Righting the Wrong's
by Red Devil
Summary: Set from 3x20. Veronica is given a chance to make sure Keith wins the election after he destroys the evidense of her b&e. The consequence? she is working for Jake Kanethe Castle.The goal? bring Duncan back. Follows the gang as each deals with their past.
1. Proposition from a Kane

_**Righting the Wrong's**_

_**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing from the Veronica Mars world. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and the networks etc. No money is being made from this. The characters are not mine, I just like to play with them.

**Chapter One: **Proposition from a Kane.

**Chapter Summary: **Just when it looks like Veronica has cost her father the election Jake Kane has a proposition for her that may keep him as Sheriff, but will she take it?

**Pairings: **LoVe at a later point. Other pairings will be mentioned, implied or explored.

**Chapter Rating:  **This chapter is a T. Will move to M in later chapter's.

* * *

Veronica warily turned on the television. Her dad was nowhere to be found, unlike last election night where they had had a gathering for the election results tonight it was just her it seemed. "and over to the latest update on the Neptune Special Election for sheriff. The current results are as follows Acting Sheriff Mars is currently trailing behind surprise candidate Vincent Van Lowe by almost a point and a half. We'll keep you posted as the votes are rolling in, we expect the final result around 9pm tonight. Back to you Jeff".

As the news program went back to the entertainment segment she switched off the TV. It looked like her dad was going to lose the election again. Being Sheriff was all he had wanted. He had risked so much in order to bring justice and fairness to the town of Neptune, and he was happiest doing it.

Veronica felt sick as the feeling of guilt intensified. She had cost him the election. Her need for vengeance and revenge had cost her father the only thing other than her that he truly cared about. She had given Jake Kane back his hard drive with the knowledge that she knew what was on it in the hope that it would stop him from going after her dad. She was too late. If she had just answered her fathers call and found out he knew it was her then she could have taken it back sooner. But she hadn't and her father, in order to protect her had destroyed evidence and the press had gotten wind of it and now it looked like he had once again given up his dream for her. Life was just so unfair sometimes.

Her guilty wallowing was interrupted by a knock on the door. Wiping a tear from her eye she went to answer it.

"Clarence Weidman?" she was surprised at first, but then again she realised that she shouldn't have been there was no way Jake Kane would let her get off that easily, especially now that Nish had the list of Castle members.

"Miss Mars. Mr Kane would like a word with you. He's waiting for us at his house and I might suggest that it would be in the best interests of yourself and your father for you to see him" he was straight to the point. His voice held no hints of emotion giving away no clue as to what Jake Kane might possibly want to see her for.

She would be lying if she said that she wasn't slightly afraid. Having been privy to first hand experience, she knew how Clarence Weidman dealt with those that the family he worked for considered pests. Amelia's boyfriend and Aaron Echoll's were two of those that popped in her mind. There had never been any proof, he was too smart for that, but was it really such a coincidence that just as Duncan was leaving he had kissed her and told her he would always love her and look out for her and that Aaron would pay for what he did, and that if he walked he wouldn't see another day? She didn't think so.

He had obviously picked up on her hesitation and nervousness because he spoke again. "Miss Mars, you will be perfectly safe, the only person there other than me is Mr Kane and the few hired help. If I wanted to get rid of you do you think I would come here and knock on your door where there is at least five people who have seen me walk into the complex? You know me better than that."

She did. She knew him well enough to know that he never left any evidence and was never seen. Weighing up her options she decided that the best thing would probably be to go and see him, but on her own terms.

"Fine. I'll go but I will drive myself and I will tell someone where I'm going so that if I'm not back my dad knows exactly where to look." she pulled out her cell phone and dialled Wallace's number. "hey BFF, so here's the thing Jake Kane has requested my fabulous presence at his mansion and if I'm not back at your house by say" she looked briefly at her watch it was 6.24pm now  
"10pm please give dad all my files. Yup those ones and tell him where I went. Thanks BFF". She grabbed her bag and keys off the counter and followed him outside.

"I'm confident you know where you are going. Mr Kane will buzz you in at the gate. I'll follow you" Clarence said.

The drive over took no longer than twenty minutes and Veronica was nervous as hell. Going after the big powerful guys in theory wasn't bad but now she had actually done it she realised it may have not been the best idea and Nish may have been right when she said 'you are going to make a lot of very powerful men very angry'.

Jake had buzzed her in the gate and she parked her Saturn near the door in the driveway. Clearly visible from the street. The grounds where well kept, no surprise there and although the mansion and its grounds were massive it was smaller than the previous Kane estate and somehow seemed friendlier.

Clarence joined her on the doorstep and flashed his key card at the security device causing the door to open. "after you" he motioned her inside the entryway. The room was dimly lit again, the same as when she had broken in. Clarence led her through to the same sitting area she had been in yesterday.

Jake Kane was sitting on the expensive leather couch, an afghan over his knees. He was again unshaven and looked tired and warn out. He laid the book down in his lap when Veronica had walked in but was yet to say anything to her, choosing instead just to watch her closely, almost as if her was looking for something.

Tired of the uncomfortable silence she spoke "you rang?". Jake swept his hand in a general arc around the other sofa's and recliner's. "please Veronica, have a seat." he turned to Clarence. "have the cook prepare the usual refreshments please." he sat up further in his chair as Clarence left the room. Veronica sat on the edge of the closest sofa and waited for him to speak.

"Veronica we appear to be in a somewhat difficult situation. I ask for you to hear me out before interrupting and that we could speak as adults, which means honesty. Complete honesty on both sides no holds barred. If you can do this and we can agree on a solution I will make sure that your father remains Sheriff. I know how important that is to him". he was still studying her closely, obviously watching for her reaction.

"I will give you fifteen minutes in which to freshen up, the bathroom is down the hall to the right, and to make your decision. You know who I am, you know who the Castle is. I hold no delusions as to the capabilities you have or what you may have done as insurance, but if you agree to talk with me then I meant what I said about honesty. If you do not wish to talk then it's likely your father will lose the election, and you will return home safe. This is not a threat, just the facts. I know you saw what was on the hard drive and that you have given a list to a girl named Nish, but without evidence she will have a hard time proving anything and I know how smart you are. After what you saw I doubt that you would have made a copy of it nor do you want anyone other than me to know you know what is on that, so there it is all laid out. I will see you back here in fifteen minutes." he laid back against the couch and picked his book back up, clearly dismissing her for the time being.

Veronica headed down the hall way in the direction of the bathroom Jake had mentioned. Her head was swimming with thoughts, her heart racing. Could Jake Kane really swing the election in her dad's favour? She had no doubt he could, especially with his connections. Was he serious when he implied that she could leave and nothing would happen to her? That he could trust her to never reveal what she had seen? He seemed to be honest and he had looked her in the eyes the entire time he had spoken. When people lied they generally refused to look the person in the eye and Jake Kane had been no exception in the past. Veronica had been so lost in thought that she hadn't paid any attention to where she was going except for walking in the general direction that Jake had told her the bathroom was in. When she realised where she was she was not only surprised but shocked. She was standing in Lilly Kane's bedroom. Well obviously not her bedroom seeing as this wasn't the Kane estate, but it was an exact replica right down to the air vents on the wall, the photo's on her desk and the stuffed white bear sitting on her comforter. The same white bear that Veronica and Lilly had won at the last winter carnival before her death.

"_so Lilly where's Logan?" Veronica had asked Lilly as they walked around the carnival eating pink fairy floss, dressed in their pep squad winter uniforms of sweat pants and a school jacket over their summer uniform. They had finished their shift at the booth that sold pep squad pies and were now free to enjoy the rest of the carnival._

_Lilly winked at her and gave her the usual mischievous grin. "Why Veronica Mars you crushing on my BF?" Lilly teased. Veronica blushed at the suggestion, she would always regret telling Lilly that Logan was hot. Lilly giggled a very girly giggle and flipped her hair back over her shoulder. "you know him Veronica Mars, got all jealous of the fabulous that is me and stormed off, man that boy is really gonna have to learn that he needs to share. After all Danny was only complementing me on my hotness, not my fault he used his lips to do it"_

"_Danny?" Veronica couldn't place the name. _

"_yes Danny ford. Caitlin's like totally hot older brother who is a freshman at Hearst. Logan's being his usual self, he stormed off after seeing us and Donut's off comforting him as usual. So now who's going to win me a bear?" Lilly pouted her lips. _

_So Lilly had done it again, flirted with some guy in front of Logan. Veronica sighed. Poor Logan._

"_Maybe I should go and check on them?" Veronica started off in the direction of the car park hoping they would be in Logan's SUV before Lilly pulled her back. _

"_uh uh Veronica Mars. You're my BFF and I want to win a teddy bear so lets go." Veronica allowed herself to be dragged over to the frog pond, getting herself once again caught up in the excitement that was Lilly Kane._

_It had taken the girls almost an hour, thirty dollars and many denied requests from the male population to aid them but in the end Lilly had gotten her bear. A huge white bear wearing a red bow. _

That bear had remained one of Lilly's favourite things and had stayed on her bed long after she had ditched every other stuffed toy in her bedroom. Veronica smiled at the memory, now Lilly's killer was dead it didn't hurt so much anymore, the memories not so haunting, and less painful. She heard a soft cough and looked up to see Jake standing in the door way.

"I thought you may have gotten distracted in here, sometimes I come in here and sit for hours and it's almost like she never left. Have you made your decision Veronica?" he asked.

Had she made her decision? Somewhere in the nostalgia of a long ago winter fair she had, so many people had been hurt by her, in her quest for revenge against everything. Logan, Duncan, Wallace, everyone in some way but mostly her dad and if there was some decent way she could make it right for once then it was time Veronica Mars took that opportunity, and swallowed her pride.

* * *

AN: Like it hate it? Let me know. Thanks for reading. 


	2. Return of Sheriff Mars

_**Righting the Wrong's**_

_**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing from the Veronica Mars world. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and the networks etc. No money is being made from this. The characters are not mine, I just like to play with them.

**Chapter Two: **Return of Sheriff Mars

**Chapter Summary: **Veronica takes Jake up on his offer and Keith is the new Sheriff. Wallace tells her her is going to Africa.

**Pairings: **LoVe at a later point. Other pairings will be mentioned, implied or explored.

**Chapter Rating: **This chapter is a T. Will move to M in later chapter's

* * *

_Previously : _

_Had she made her decision? Somewhere in the nostalgia of a long ago winter fair she had, so many people had been hurt by her, in her quest for revenge against everything. Logan, Duncan, Wallace, everyone in some way but mostly her dad and if there was some decent way she could make it right for once then it was time Veronica Mars took that opportunity, and swallowed her pride._

_

* * *

_

" I have, let's talk" Veronica said. Jake turned and headed back to the sitting area with Veronica in tow.

He seated himself back in the same spot he was in previously and Veronica resumed her position on the other couch. The refreshments Jake had asked for has been placed on a platter on the coffee table. Mini quiches and vole vents. She was pleased to see that a pitcher of ice tea had been included. Eating and drinking would prove a somewhat welcome distraction through out the next couple of hours.

"As you can imagine" Jake began. "I have been put in a somewhat difficult situation due to the events of the last few days. Now I know Veronica that ever since we lost Lilly it has been hard for everyone, but especially you. Although I chose not to involve myself in a lot of things doesn't necessarily mean I don't know what is going on." he looked at his watch. "seeing as we are on a time limit tonight the most important thing we need to talk about is the Castle. Why are you so interested in us? Why steal the hard drive, I have never known you to be a hard core feminist so I don't believe that's the reason."

Did he really not know about the video of her and Piz? Or was Jake Kane just playing coy? She studied him closely but his face remained in the same indifferent expression as before, giving away nothing.

She took a deep breath, she was so embarrassed about the video, but hadn't dwelt on it until now being too focused on getting revenge, but telling someone who wasn't a close friend, but had known her forever was down right embarrassing.

"Frankly Mr Kane, I couldn't care less about the Castle or I didn't until Gori Sorokin thought that it would be fun to video bug my friend Wallace's dorm room and make an entertaining video of me and my boyfriend in a somewhat intimate situation and email it to everyone he knew." she fidgeted with the edge of her messenger bag that was laying next to her.

"so naturally, I figured out that Wallace's room had been bugged, where the video had come from and I then bugged Gori's room which led to me eventually following a pledge to here. I saw you with Gori, heard you talking about the pledge's, saw you on the computer and took the hard drive. I assumed he had done it with the Castle's support, but now after viewing the hard drive and not finding it there, I'm not so sure" she finished.

She helped herself to a mini quiche and a glass of ice tea.

"I'll be honest with you Veronica, when I found out what you had done I was livid. I couldn't understand why you would go after the Castle or even how you had done it until now. The Castle has been around for a very long time and has remained top secret all these years, that's how it retains it exclusivity. I can understand now you had good reason fro what you did although I don't agree with how you did it. I can also assure you that the Castle had nothing to do with that video being taken, we bug all our pledges but Gori should never have done anything with that video except destroy it, unfortunately he's not the smartest of boys." he smiled at her, knowing she would agree with his assessment of Gori Sorokin.

"Mr Kane, I don't mean to be rude but what has this got to do with my dad and the Sheriff's election? I have already given you the hard drive, and you know that I will keep your secret, so what is it your asking of me?" she didn't want to appear too rude considering he had said he could turn the election around but at the same time they were on a time limit, it was now past eight, the vote counting usually only took until just after nine.

Jake laughed. She hadn't changed much, always was stubborn and straight to the point.

"I want you to work for me Veronica. You're the best chance I have of finding my son. Before you say you don't know where he is I know that you helped him disappear, I have no doubt you can find him again" he said.

"that's it? Really? I just have to work with you and you will do as you said and make sure dad wins the election?" she asked.

"that's it. So what do you say?" he poured himself another glass of ice tea from the pitcher.

"Mr Kane. Duncan is wanted by the FBI on kidnapping charges. If they find him he goes to jail and loses custody of his daughter, and I go to jail for aiding and abetting. If you are as powerful as you are leading me to believe why wait until now to try and find him? Why didn't you do something so he could have stayed?" her voice was full of distaste.

"I'm not a well man, the stress of Lilly's death and the trial for covering up the evidence not to mention the trial of Aaron Echoll's has taken it's toll. I haven't been back to Neptune before now because I have been in hospital. They found a tumour, in my liver. It has been removed, and I've had months of chemo. It's in remission now but has left me weak. During those months in hospital I made a decision, to fix what I've done wrong in any way I can. I didn't even know that Duncan had a baby until he had ran and taken Faith with him "

"Lilly" Veronica interrupted.

"Pardon?" he didn't understand what his daughter had to do with it.

"her name is Lilly. Faith is what the Manning's called her after Meg died." she stated.

"Lilly" he smiled as he said her name. "I want my son back, I want to see my grand daughter. Celeste had kept it all hidden from me. I found out that Duncan had a baby and about the bus crash and Meg's death through a visit from a charming lady at the FBI while I was in hospital. I came pretty close to dying Veronica, it makes a person re-evaluate things. So do we have a deal?"

"and if I cant find Duncan? Or you cant get the charges dropped for kidnapping does my dad suddenly have some scandal to deal with and gets booted from the Sheriff's office again?" she had to know, it would be pointless going through all this if charge would use it as constant leverage over her.

"no Veronica, as long as you give me your word that you will try your best. I believe you're the best chance of finding my son, and I'll take it" He stood up and walked over to the photo's above the fire place. Family photo's of Lilly and Duncan in various poses, and some of him with the children. There were none featuring Celeste.

"ok. I will work for you, you have a deal" she had made her decision she just hoped she wouldn't regret it later.

"you wont regret this Veronica, thankyou. Now if you will excuse me a few moments I have some calls to make before you leave. Make yourself at home" he said as he left the room.

She took the opportunity to explore the sitting room in more detail. It was tastefully furnished, mainly in deep mahogany's and maroons. Very masculine features. She hadn't heard anything on the grapevine about Celeste and Jake splitting up, but there were no signs of Celeste anywhere here and he had all but spat out her name before when he had been talking to her, so she guessed it was entirely possible that Celeste Kane was no longer around. That's one positive thing she realised, not having to deal with the cold hard bitch on a regular basis.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Jake returning to the sitting room. He smiled warmly at her. "it's all done Veronica, your dad is the new sheriff as at the close of election tonight."

"how?" she couldn't help herself, curiosity was always her downfall.

"best not to know these things" Jake just winked at her. "your working with the Castle now Veronica, you'd be amazed at what can happen. I'm sure I don't need to mention that this needs to be done with absolute discretion regarding Duncan. Whatever you need let me know, the sooner he is back the better. We'll meet again tomorrow night to get started on the details etc but for know go celebrate with your dad." he led her towards the foyer.

She dug around in her purse until she found her business cards and handed on to Jake, before leaving the house and climbing tiredly into the drivers seat of her car. She had a conversation ahead with Wallace and she was somewhat dreading it. What ever happened to Veronica Mars woman of mystery?

* * *

She arrived at Wallace's at nine forty three pm. The door was flung open before she even knocked. "damn supafly. Do you know how worried I've been about you? And I think you should be the one to explain to my mum why I wore a hole in her best rug pacing back and forth across it." He pulled her into a quick hug before they went inside. 

"So what happened with Jake Kane?' he asked.

"he just wanted to have a chat, make sure I wasn't going to say anything. Where's your mom and Darrell?" The Fennel household was unusually quiet tonight. "oh she went to keep your dad company. Offer him support" he used air quote to emphasise support.

"yeah I wondered where he was when he wasn't home, figured he wanted some alone time. How are the votes going?" she pushed the button on the remote and the TV came on.

"don't know" Wallace shrugged. "there's been some kind of delay, they didn't say what though. Hey how about some ice cream. No point sitting here"

"ok sounds good, but your driving, I'm beat" she headed for the door, Wallace close behind.

* * *

The pier was bustling with early holiday makers as she and Wallace walked along liking their ice creams. They had seen a few people from school out enjoying the evening but hadn't invited anyone to join them. For the most part they walked along in comfortable silence. Both lost in their own thoughts. 

"so have you seen Logan or Piz since yesterday? " he hadn't witnessed the confrontation in the cafeteria but Piz had come running back to him after class and told him everything, by that time he heard from others too that Logan had beaten the stuffing out of Gori and apologised to Piz. No one had seen him since then.

"no" she answered. "I wanted to but Piz was there, it didn't seem right. I left after that so I haven't seen Piz either". In that one moment when Logan had defended her honour even after she warned him that Gori was connected, she had felt something tug in her heart, but until she could discover what it means she hadn't wanted to talk to him.

"there's something I've been wanting to tell you. You know the whole job fair well I've decided to go and spend my summer in Africa with the Invisible Children Program." he had been waiting for the right time to tell her. He was excited about going but at the same time really nervous, it was a long way from home and he'd be in a war torn country.

"wow, that's huge' Wallace was going to Africa, she was going to the FBI and somewhere in all that she had to find Duncan.

A quick glance at her watch told her it was past eleven and that her dad should be home now, and hopefully in a good mood.

"hey Wallace do you mind if we go? I'm sorry my mind is just preoccupied tonight and I'm being a totally bad friend. The Africa thing is great, it really is and tomorrow we will celebrate, but now I just need to see dad and find out how the election went." she offered him a small smile.

"hey no probs BFF, you owe me dinner tomorrow, come on I'll take you home" he put his arm around her and led her to his car.

* * *

"Hey dad, I'm home" she called letting herself into the apartment they shared. She knew he was home because the lights were on and music was playing, 

"Hey honey" Keith walked into the kitchen. "you'll never believe what happened. The prosecutor dropped the charges and I won the election. Who would have thought huh? Who's your daddy?" he danced around the kitchen.

"you are" she replied running over to hug him. He looked happier than she had seen him in a long time. She couldn't even remember the last time he had been so giddy.

Veronica joined her dad in a few glasses of wine while he regaled the tale of how he was losing the election when all of a sudden the votes had turned he had had won. The people of Neptune had at last had faith in him again and he was over the moon.

When she finally climbed into bed that night she felt happy for her dad, he never needed to know that he was going to lose. It felt good being finally able to do something for him so he was happy again.

* * *

I wanted to thank everyone who has read this story. Hopefully this chapter resolved a few questions and is setting the direction for which it is going. 

I have most of this story planned out already and hope to update at least once per week.

Thankyou to those who reviewed, especially christykg who's review was really helpful to me.

Please hit the little review button to the left, I cant wait to hear what you think.

**Next Chapter**: Veronica has another meeting with Jake, Wallace leaves for Africa and Veronica has 'that talk' with Piz.


	3. Lunch with Piz

_** Righting the Wrong's**_

_**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing from the Veronica Mars world. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and the networks etc. No money is being made from this. The characters are not mine, I just like to play with them.

**Chapter Three: **Lunch with Piz

**Chapter Summary: **Veronica has 'that talk with Piz, and enlists Mac's help with the Kane case.

**Pairings: **LoVe at a later point. Other pairings will be mentioned, implied or explored.

**Chapter Rating: **This chapter is a T. Will move to M in later chapter's

* * *

Veronica cursed as she looked at the clock. Eight fifty am. She had planned to get up at six thirty and take Back Up for a run. She had a lot to get through before she and Wallace went to dinner tonight, he was leaving the day after tomorrow and she was due to catch her plane to Virginia next Monday. Somewhere in between all that she had to start finding Duncan, talk to Jake about the FBI internship, and make sure Logan was ok and knew to lay low for awhile, and break up with Piz.

She had seen the puppy dog looks in his eyes over the last week. He obviously didn't want her to go to Virginia. She chose to think it was because he didn't really know her and therefore didn't understand how much it meant to her rather than he was in love with her. She didn't feel the same way about him though. Sure Piz was a sweet guy, a good mommy's boy come to think of it.

She felt something for him, as more than a friend but she didn't love him and didn't think she would anytime soon. He had been safe, there when she needed a boyfriend but he never questioned her, didn't demand to know where she was, what she was doing or if she was getting into trouble again. He was an ideal boyfriend for her in that way.

Were these new thoughts all because of Logan? She had warned him about Gori but he still went after him anyway, seeking justice of her behalf because this time she had been too scared of what could happen. To her if she went after him herself.

Piz would never beat anyone up on her behalf, and that was a good thing really, she hadn't had to bail him out of jail yet, but there was just no passion there.

Having finally come to the conclusion that she needed to have 'that talk' with Piz she climbed out of bed and headed for her shower.

* * *

Clipping Back Up's leash to his collar she headed for the beach. It had turned out to be a beautiful sunny day after yesterday's rain. Finding a less crowded area she set up her beach towel, unclipped Back Up's leash and threw his tennis ball for him. She had decided she could kill two birds with one stone by taking her dog to the beach and bringing along her laptop which would allow her to do a bit of digging on Duncan.

She had given him specific instructions not to call or email her once he had left Mexico and he had done exactly that. She hadn't been involved in his travel plans after he left Mexico so that way she wasn't lying when she said she didn't know where he had gone.

She decided that talking to Vinnie was probably a good move, he could at least tell her where he had taken Duncan, but again although the somewhat shady detective usually had loose morals, he would be fairly sore having lost the election and not likely to reveal to much to her.

A shadow fell over her as a body plonked down next to her, half on her towel half on the sand.

"Wow, sugar puss, you must be losing your touch to allow little old me to sneak up on you." Logan said, leaning over her trying to see what she was doing on her laptop.

Veronica snapped the laptop shut, as he threw the ball again for Back Up.

"Logan" she greeted. "I didn't expect to run into you here but it saves me a trip to the Grand I guess. How are you?"

"Concerned about me? That's very unlike you Veronica. All I did was beat up some guy who is apparently 'connected' and you want to have a deep and meaningful conversation about it. Strange considering the other day you said you were done, and I was out of your life forever." he dead panned.

Back Up had returned again with the tennis ball and Logan continued to throw it for him. Veronica took the chance to visually check him over whilst he was momentarily distracted. He had a fresh cut above his eye with stitches he didn't have the other day. Obviously Gori had managed to land at least one punch. There were some older bruises that were starting to fade from when he and Piz had 'had it out'.

He was in a wet suit, and looking further behind him she saw his board propped in the sand. He was right she really was losing her touch if she had heard him come up to her or prop up his board.

"Logan, thankyou for looking out for me once again but you shouldn't have done it. I learnt things about Gori, he has ways of making people disappear, what I found out was so disturbing that even I knew to back off and that rarely happens, you know that.

As angry at you as I am for what you did to Piz, now I will be constantly worrying that something might happen to you."

"Aw well I'm fine. Save your worry Veronica, for someone who needs it. And it wasn't all about you either you know, after the whole video tape thing with Lilly how did you expect me to react huh?" he stood up, throwing the ball again for Back Up.

"Listen I have to run, people to destroy and all that. Take care won't you?" he grabbed his board and headed down the beach, leaving her some what speechless. She had been so glad when he had appeared next to her to see that he was fine, she was even expecting his smart arse quips, and another apology. But he hadn't apologised or even tried for the friend thing again and that was puzzling. She still couldn't forgive him for what he did with Madison, it hurt like hell but the whole friend's thing was working well before the incident with Piz.

Realising that she had been at the beach for over an hour she decided it was time to head home with Back Up, the sun was getting hot and she needed to collect her files from Wallace before finalising their dinner plans and heading to Jake Kane's. It probably wouldn't hurt to drop her dad in lunch either. Although he had won the election the guilt was never far away from her about what she had almost cost him, and it was just luck really that Jake had decided he needed her help rather than crucifying her and her dad for her silly actions.

* * *

She parked out the front of Wallace's house and headed for the front door. She was glad that Wallace had finished moving out of his dorm room for two reasons. Firstly Piz lived with Wallace in his dorm so it would be entirely awkward making idle chit chat with him, she didn't want to see him until later when they could talk, and secondly explaining to Alicia Fennel why she had to go through Wallace's room without telling her what she needed was not something she wanted to experience.

Her phone buzzed just as she reached the doorstep. Piz's name flashed up on the screen letting her know the text message was from him. The message contained only one word. 'lunch?'. He wanted her to have lunch with him. It seemed as good an opportunity as any. She replied 'yes, 1.30 café at the pier' before knocking on the door.

Wallace had greeted her with his usual bounciness and led her to his room. She had stopped on the way to say a quick hi to Alicia and Darrel who were in the kitchen making cookies.

"I like what you have done with the place" she commented. Piles of clothes were thrown everywhere, books placed in various piles on the floor and desk, and three suitcases were open on the bed.

"Yeah, sorry about the mess. Packing for three months in Africa wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, and I need to get a jump on the mechanical engineering subjects for next fall"

"Which would explain the books then" she said, moving aside the lid of a suitcase to sit on the bed.

"Very good Mars, we'll make an FBI agent out of you yet" he winked. "So we still on for dinner, and your answer had better be yes" he continued digging through his wardrobe.

"Dinner at eight pm, my treat picked you up at seven forty-five pm. I thought about inviting some others but being as selfish as I am I decided some quality BFF time was better."

"So have you found those files yet?" she had called him quickly on the way to the beach this morning to warn him of her visit.

"Here you go" he emerged from inside the wardrobe with the manila files in his hand. "I had them hidden fairly well" he said.

She had given the files to Wallace to hide a couple weeks after he had gotten back from Chicago. Figured it was safer that way. If the FBI had decided to raid her house again they would find nothing, the same as at the office. Since Wallace had spent so much time in Chicago he wouldn't ever be suspected of helping her.

She stood up to leave. A visit to Mac was next on her list for today. "Ok so see you tonight, I'll see myself out wouldn't want to risk upsetting your system" she winked at him and headed for the door bidding farewell to Mrs Fennell and Darrel on the way.

* * *

The drive over to Hearst hadn't taken long. There was relatively no traffic today. Mac hadn't moved home yet opting to put it off as long as possible, she still had a few days left but would need to be out of Hearst by the weekend. Mac let her in the door and she was glad Parker wasn't there. That was another awkward moment she was hoping to avoid.

"Hey. New decorator?" she asked upon seeing the dart board with a picture of herself on it, a dart sticking in her nose.

"Apparently Parker likes to play darts, her way of letting off steam or so she says" Mac shrugged.

Veronica had walked over to Mac's desk pulling out one of the files. "Do you think you could take a look at this? I need to know the passenger lists for flights out of Mexico, all airports during these dates."

"Sure I can do that. Any particular reason or is this one of these don't ask I won't lie type things?' she had seated herself at the computer and was opening the hacker program she used to enter certain computers through their back door.

"One of those things" Veronica agreed. "Hey I have to run I'm meeting Piz for lunch, call me when you have something? I'll see what I can do in the way of monetary reimbursement" she was heading towards the door when the lump in Mac's bed caught her eye. She hadn't realised Mac had a visitor. A visitor with blonde hair.

Walking closer to the bed she saw the identity of the mysterious guest. She turned to Mac "why Cindy Mackenzie is that Dick Casablancas in your bed or do mah eyes deceive me?" she drawled in a fake southern accent.

Mac was blushing bright red at the implication of what having Dick in her bed could mean.

"It's nothing like that" she insisted "he showed up at 2am this morning, parallactically drunk. He couldn't even stand I have no idea how he made It here. "

_The relentless pounding on the door didn't cease. It finally roused Mac from her slumber and she got up to answer it. 'Parker probably forgot her key again' she thought._

_As she opened the door, Dick who had been leaning in against it fell into the room. Luckily most of the dorm had moved out already_ _otherwise she didn't think anyone would still be sleeping after that racket._

_She closed the door and stepped over Dick who had fallen on the floor. "Dick what are you doing here?" she asked him. He was on his knees trying to stand but constantly kept falling again. She helped him to stand up and manoeuvred him over to her bed for him to sit down. _

_He was mumbling and she couldn't quite understand him. Looking at him closer she saw that he was crying. His cheeks were tear stained. _

"_My fault, my fault" he was saying over and over again. Great a drunken remorseful Dick. What was she supposed to do with him now?_

_She tried to call Logan but his phone went straight to message bank. She didn't even listen to his inspirational message instead hanging up and resigning herself to deal with Dick. Lucky it was early hours in the morning so a visit from Max was unlikely. Parker had obviously stayed out. So it was only her and Dick._

"_He loved you, you know" his slurring cut into her thoughts. "It's all my fault, why didn't I know, why didn't I help?" he was sobbing now. Each breath hitching and his cries getting louder. She had absolutely no idea how to deal with him like this. Mac had never seen Dick so upset or helpless, and why would he come to her of all people? _

_She knelt down in front of him. Placing her hands on his shoulders. "It's not your fault Dick. No one knew, not even me. He loved you ok. You need to remember that." talking about Cassidy still felt like ripping a scab of a fresh wound, at least Dick was drunk so he wouldn't remember it or try to analyse her. _

_His sobs seemed to quieten somewhat and she moved her left hand from his shoulder to his back rubbing soft circles constantly whispering "shh it's ok, he's not in any pain anymore"_

_Dick wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, burying his head in her shoulder. A few minutes had passed when she heard soft snores coming from him. Apparently he had finally given in and passed out. Great. Now what?_

_She tipped him sideways until he was lying on her pillow. With a bit of effort she managed to get his feet up onto the bed. Pulling a blanket over him she decided her best bet was to sleep in Parker's bed and let him sleep it off._

"So he still hasn't woken" Mac finished her explanation.

"Is he still breathing?" Veronica nudged the sleeping form with her toe.

"Yes, I checked" Mac said. "Now didn't you have to meet Piz for lunch?" she changed the subject whilst pushing Veronica to the door.

"Oh crap I almost forgot" Veronica said throwing a last look in Dick's direction before heading out the door. "Call me when you have something?"

"Sure, I need a few hours though" Mac said shutting the door.

* * *

Piz was waiting in a booth towards the back of the café when Veronica arrived. He had been sitting there for about fifteen minutes; she was rarely on time these days.

"Hey you" Veronica slid into the booth across from him. "You ordered yet?"

"Nope, thought I'd wait for you. Do you know what you want?" he asked flipping through the menu.

She didn't need to look at the menu to know what was good here, she had eaten here plenty of times.

"I'll just have the chicken caeser salad and an oj thanks" she said to the waitress who had arrived at their table to take the orders.

"And a burger and fries for me thanks. Oh and a coke" Piz gave his order.

"No probs, be about twenty minutes, we are kind of backed up today" the waitress said before hurrying off to give the cook their orders.

"Veronica I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm going to go home for a few days before my internship starts. When do you leave for Virginia?"

"Monday. Which is good because I haven't packed a thing yet. Piz I think we need to talk, you're a really great guy but -"

"You just want to be friends." he cut her off. He took her hand. "I know this thing between you and me isn't really working. Don't get me wrong I think I'm falling in love with you but I know you don't feel the same. I think it sealed it for me the other day. That look you gave him when he beat that guy up said it all. You may think that you don't like him anymore but I can see that your heart is reserved just for him. I'd like to say we have something special but I'm afraid I cant help but wonder if I was just a way to get back at him in the beginning, and then you felt too guilty to end it." he finished.

"Piz, it wasn't like that I promise you. I like you as more than a friend, you're so sweet and an amazing person but I don't love you just now, I'm so screwed up that I'm not ready for a relationship and I should never have led you on. I am so sorry; I don't want to lose you." The waitress finally arrived with their orders.

They ate in silence for the next few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Veronica didn't love Piz but didn't want to lose him as a friend either. Was she asking too much of him?

"You are amazing also Veronica, there's this thing about you that just draws people in and even though I wish there was more between us I don't want to lose you so I hope we can still be friends". He was looking her deep in the eyes, hoping she would see the truth in his words and the hope in his heart.

The rest of the lunch with Piz has passed amicably. She was happy he had agreed to remain friends. He had even insisted on paying the bill. They had said goodbye's with a promise to email and call over the summer. She seemed to get the impression that Piz she thought she was dumping him for Logan but that wasn't the case. There was too much baggage there for anything to happen between herself and Logan. She needed time to rediscover herself, hopefully this summer would be good for that being in Virginia away from her friends and Logan and she would hopefully sort out a few things inside her head.

* * *

It was just after four by the time she had made it to Jake Kane's new house. After lunch with Piz she had taken a walk along the beach and around to the cliff base by herself hoping to make things clearer in her mind. Half way along the beach Mac had called her to tell her she had her hands on the passenger manifests for all flights out of Mexico in the three day time slot Veronica had given her to work with. This meant she was one step closer to finding Duncan. It would probably take her a few hours later to go through then all looking for one of the four fake id's she had created for him before he left.

Clarence let her in the front door again and she was currently waiting for Jake in his home office.

"Veronica, sorry to keep you waiting" Jake walked in and sat behind his desk. He gestured for her to take the other seat which she did.

"Mr Kane, I've made some progress with Duncan, but before I go any further there are a few things we should discuss regarding the case." she took out some of her notes from her bag and placed them on the desk.

"Go on, I'll help with what ever I can" he said

"I've made a list of things that need to happen in order for Duncan to come home. The highest priority is for the Manning's to drop the kidnapping charges against him, there's two ways to do it firstly they could voluntarily drop them or secondly we need to find enough evidence against the Manning's to have child abuse charges laid against them, and prove that Duncan only took Lilly to save her from them." she handed over the first folder to him.

"This folder contains all the evidence that Duncan and I collected before he left. Emails from Meg to Child Protective services, as well as one of the notebook's Meg had hidden. The main problem is the abuse that Grace receives appears to be only psychological and is really hard to prove." she watched as he flicked through the contents.

"The problem is I don't really have a lot of experience in this stuff, I'm due to leave on Monday for the FBI summer internship, and I've already been arrested once for breaking into the Manning's house, I'm not sure where to go from here. I was hoping Clarence might be able to offer some guidance considering his background". She was playing with the necklace that Lilly had given her.

"Well the FBI internship is something you can't miss. That would look slightly suspicious seeing as you have been so excited about it. Its best you leave as planned. I do however have a contact over at the Virginian headquarters, I'll let him know to expect you and he may be able to assist you in some way. I'll have Clarence work on the Manning angle from here. I agree with you that we can't risk bringing Duncan back until we can be sure that he won't lose Lilly or be sent to jail on kidnapping charges. I had this made for you, it should help you along the way" he moved some things around in his top draw until he found a business card and handed it to her.

It appeared to be the same business card she had handed him when leaving last night. A Mars Investigations card with her name as the private investigator on it.

"I don't understand" she said. "This is the card I gave you last night".

"I had it modified slightly" he said. "If you hold both thumbs on the bottom corners of the card a water mark should appear through it".

She did as he said placing both thumbs on the bottom corners of the business card and pressed hard. A watermark appeared on the card, it was like one of those holograms where you can only catch it by turning the object a certain way until the sunlight caught it. The under the triangle and eye in the logo was the Castle's logo. When she took her thumbs off the corner the logo disappeared.

"It's how we identify associate members. It's for people who aren't actually members of the Castle but know about them and work for them, or with them if you'd prefer. It will open doors for you with the right people. Castle members will know what to look for in the Card." he explained.

"I'll be in contact with you before you go with details of our guy who is inside. I'll also get Clarence to take a closer look at Alice and Stuart Manning. Is there anything else you need?" he asked.

"Nope, I think that about covers it" she said.

* * *

**AN: **Thanks again to all who read and reviewed this story so far.

**Wanabee :** Glad you liked it as to whether or not Jake still thinks Veronica is his daughter. Sorry but all will be revealed a bit later on.

**XoSethCohenxO : **Veronica is working for the Castle, or more for Jake Kane really and by default the Castle. I like to think of it as working with them rather than for them.

**Christykg: **I'm a LoVe fan also, so there will definitely be a lot of LoVe later on in this story, but as Logan says "they don't write songs about the ones that come easy" ;)

**GenecticallyEnhanced1: **Thanks for the good review and picking up on my bad grammar. Sadly although I'm a uni student English has never been my strongest forte. I don't have a beta so even though I'm constantly rereading and trying to edit I often miss things. Looking forward to hearing how you find the next chapter.

**IluvVM: **I'm excited that you're excited. I hope this chapter didn't let you down. I wasn't going to update until later in the week but I'm really excited for this story and where I want to take it and the words just keep swimming around in my head until I type them.


	4. A farewell for Wallace

-1_**Righting the Wrong's**_

_**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing from the Veronica Mars world. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and the networks etc. No money is being made from this. The characters are not mine; I just like to play with them.

**Chapter Four: ** Farewell Wallace.

**Chapter Summary: ** The gang has a going away party for Wallace and Veronica. Wallace leaves for Africa and Veronica heads for Virginia but not before getting a break through in Duncan's case.

**Pairings: **LoVe at a later point. Other pairings will be mentioned, implied or explored.

**Chapter Rating: **This chapter is a M. Discusses Child Abuse, Violence and other themes not fit for young readers.

AN: I only just realised that I said in Chapter One that Wallace would leave in Chapter Two, sorry about that. Originally I had planned for him to go but decided we couldn't let our fave BFF go without a send off.

------------

_Previously:_

"_It's how we identify associate members. It's for people who aren't actually members of the Castle but know about them and work for them or with them if you'd prefer. It will open doors for you with the right people. Castle members will know what to look for in the Card." he explained._

"_I'll be in contact with you before you go with details of our guy who is inside. I'll also get Clarence to take a closer look at Alice and Stuart Manning. Is there anything else you need?" he asked._

"_Nope, I think that about covers it" she said._

_--------------------_

"Get up Veronica, this is your last chance" Mac said. She had been trying to convince Veronica to wake up for at least fifteen minutes. "Fine you give me no choice" she walked into the attached bathroom and filled Veronica's glass with cold water. Walking back over to her best friend she pulled her covers backed and dumped the water unceremoniously on her.

"Oh my god, Mac, what the hell are you doing?" Veronica screamed at her, jumping from the now wet bed.

"Waking you up obviously. Do you realise not only have I called you about five times in the last hour, and each time might I add, you rejected my call, but I have been standing here for ten minutes" she grinned at the sight of her friend, water dripping from her hair.

"Sorry, I had one of those nights. I couldn't sleep, everything constantly running through my head. I finally gave in at four am and popped a couple of sleeping tablets that I had left over". She was trying to towel her hair dry as she spoke.

"Guess that explains it then, anyway you need to get up it's past ten and we have a lot to do. Seeing as Wallace is leaving us for the summer, Max, Piz and I have taken it upon ourselves to throw him a some what hopefully fitting farewell party, but, I do need your help" she had been digging through Veronica's drawers whilst she spoke, finally coming up with a passable outfit and throwing it at her.

"Move it, we need to be gone in ten minutes" she threw the clothes at her and left the room heading for the kitchen to make some coffee.

Veronica had showered and dressed in record time, meeting Mac in the kitchen when she was finished. She was silently thankful that her friend knew her well enough to have made a fresh pot of coffee.

Mac was sitting at the bench, making lists and checking off items on her palm pilot. "Ok so firstly we need to organise decorations, food, the drinks are taken care of, and I need to contact the guests. Do you think you and Max could do balloons and streamers?" she looked up.

"Sure, so is this party public knowledge or is Wallace still in the dark?" Veronica asked drinking the last of her coffee and rinsing the cup.

"He is in the dark, so the plan is that you will go to dinner with him and then bring him over to the party" she was still focused on her palm pilot.

"Ok, and that won't seem strange at all that I want to take him to dinner again even though we only went last night? I thought tonight was family time for him and his mom and brother before he left tomorrow?" she pointed out.

"Nope" she shook her head "I spoke to Mrs Fennel last night and apparently family time now includes you and Mr Mars also" she winked at her, "So after dinner you can pretend to take him for ice cream and bring him to the party. What do you think?"

Mac seemed to have thought of most things. Veronica kicked herself mentally for not having thought of it first but was pleased that her friends mixed well enough with each other now that they could make one big happy group.

"Alright, let's go. Where do I meet Max and what time?" she asked gathering up her purse and cell phone.

"He will be waiting at the party shop, Veronica I should probably tell you just so you're prepared. The party is at the Grande in the Presidential Suite. Dick was around when we were making plans and he offered, and seeing as none of our houses are big enough and we all have parents hanging around it seemed like a good idea. I'm not sure where things stand with you and Logan now so I thought I should mention it" she said.

"No that's fine. Dick and Logan are known for their giving of good parties. Just as long as Piz is ok with it, I'm good, wasn't he leaving today?" She recalled him saying he was yesterday.

"He was supposed to but decided to stay one more night to for Wallace's party, and ever since Logan apologised to him he seems to view him in a whole new light. You haven't talked about it with him?" Shouldn't she have known where Piz stood? Mac thought.

"Piz and I broke up yesterday, a mutual agreement with a promise to remain friends; I'm surprised he didn't tell you actually." She finished locking up the apartment as they headed towards their respective cars.

"Never mentioned it. So Max is waiting at the party shop, the one on main. Just don't let him go to overboard he has a tendency to do that. I'll call you later" she got into her green beetle and waved as she pulled out onto the road.

---------------

By the time Veronica arrived at Party Time, Max had already filled a trolley with streamers, balloons and various other decorations. She saw what Mac meant about him going overboard.

"Hey Max. Wow that's a lot of balloons there. Do you think there will be room for any people if we blow up all these?" She was rifling through the trolley pulling out things that were totally inappropriate. "Ok I really don't think this one will work, unless of course there is something Wallace hasn't told us" She pulled out the 'congratulations it's a boy' banner and handed it to Max, who sheepishly put it back on the shelf.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away, it happens when I'm left in a store by myself. Do you think there's too much here?" He looked into the trolley with a puzzled expression.

"Just a little" She said. "How about you pick a theme and we will go from there. And if I know Wallace I'm pretty sure he's all for the masculine so I think we can weed out these" She pulled out various packets of pink and lavender balloons, leaving an assortment of silver, blue and green balloons and streamers.

"Now that's more like it" She smiled at him. They paid for the items and Max packed them in his car. He was meeting Mac at the Grande to help set up. Veronica decided to stop by her dad's office to kill some time.

-------------

"Oh hey Logan" Mac greeted him as he opened the door for her and took some of the bags from her. "Thanks for doing this" She pushed past him into the room setting the bags down on the table.

"No problem, you helped me out, so I help you out" He sat the rest of the bags down with the others. "So what's the plan for tonight?"

"Veronica, Wallace and their parents are going for a goodbye dinner then she will bring him here afterwards" she replied pulling various items from the bags.

"Dude, you got any more conditioner? I'm all out, damn maid service forgot to…" he stopped speaking when he saw Mac standing there. A slight blush appearing in his cheeks. "Oh sorry, I didn't realise we had company" he pulled the towel tighter around his waist. "Never mind I'll make do" he turned and headed for the bathroom, Mac watching him retreat.

"Mac? Hello? Are you still with me here?" Logan was snapping his fingers in her face.

"Oh sorry" Her face was a lovely shade of red.

"So does she know it's for her too? And is she ok with coming here?" He politely ignored the event that had just happened and continued to grill her about the party.

"She has no idea, and yes she seems ok with it. Hey can I leave you to take care of the food? I have a few more errands to run. How did Dick go with the drinks? Did he actually manage to remember to get some soda and juice as well as all that alcohol?" There were numerous bottles of beer and spirits around the room but she had failed to see any non alcoholic drinks anywhere.

"Normal drinks are in the bathtub waiting on some ice, then we are good to go" he explained, still unpacking the shopping.

"Thanks again Logan, I'll see you at eight. They should arrive around eight- thirty or so".

"I'll be here" he joked as she let herself out.

"Is she gone yet?" Dick's head appeared from around the corner. He emerged completely when Logan nodded that she had.

"Dude, what is up with you two? I have never in all my years seen you blush and run when caught in a towel. I used to think it was like a mating call with you" He teased.

"I woke up in her bed the other day. I don't think anything happened but I don't know for sure. I don't even know how I got there. I pretended I was asleep until after Veronica had come and left then I bolted when she was in the bathroom" He said.

"How very brave of you" Logan pointed out. "So I'm guessing you haven't seen her since?"

"Nope, just when her, Max and Piz stopped by when you were out surfing yesterday, and then it was just a 'hey want to have a going away party for Veronica and Wallace' and I was all 'sure party? I'll be there. You get the food. I'll get the drinks. Call Logan with the details' and that was pretty much it." He recalled.

"Dude, we really need to have a conversation but right now there is a cake I need to organise, and you need to find some decent music." he grabbed his keys and ran his fingers through his hair. "I won't be long".

------------------

"So apparently Fennel Family 'family time' now includes us Mars huh? A little interesting don't you think?" Veronica stated sitting down in the chair across from Keith's desk.

"When were you planning on telling me that you and Alicia had hooked up again?" She asked.

"How nice to see you too honey. What no ham sandwich? A working man's got to eat you know" he drawled across the desk.

"Here" She threw him a brown paper bag containing his lunch "Now spill".

"Yes, Alicia and I have started seeing each other again, and I prefer to think of it as mutually enjoying each other's company rather than 'hooked up'. If I had seen you for more than five minutes in the last three days perhaps I would have mentioned it. I see your friend Mac has briefed you on the evening's events then?" he said, unwrapping the sandwich she had brought for him.

"She has. Thanks for letting her in my room by the way, nothing quite as exciting as waking up to a cup of cold water tipped on your head" She said sarcastically.

"Well I was wondering if you had gone all vampire on me, sleeping all day, awake all night" he had finished the first sandwich and started on the second.

"Nope, just not enough hours in the day lately"

"Might be if you didn't sleep all day" He quipped.

"Ha Ha, anyone ever tell you how funny you are?" She kissed his forehead before making her way out.

"So I'll meet you there at six-thirty then?" He called.

"Six-thirty at The Golden Palace" she confirmed, closing his door.

------------------

Wallace was flying his red plane on the beach when Veronica reached him.

"Last minute flying time?" she asked unclipping Back Up's leash so he could have a run.

"Figured it will be awhile before I get a chance again. What brings you here?" He manoeuvred the plane into a spin.

"Same really, just spending some time with Back Up before I leave on Monday. So my dad and your mom again huh?" Back Up had returned with the ball and she scratched his neck before throwing it again.

"Yeah, although it doesn't surprise me really. Once she got over the whole 'he went through her personal stuff thing' she realised that she was wrong too, and how much she missed him. It's good I guess now I'm away at college it's just her and Darrel, I don't go home all that often. I know I should forgive her for the issues with dad but it's just hard". He landed the plane and sat down on the beach.

"So dinner tonight and a family trip to the airport tomorrow. Do I start calling you Greg yet?" She teased.

"Only if I can call you Marsha" He shot back.

"So Wallace it is then" She agreed, her attention focused on her ringing cell phone. "Hey I have to take this, gimme a sec?" She got up and walked a short distance away from him.

"Hello?"

"Veronica, its Jake Kane. There has been a development in the case; do you think you could come over?" He asked.

"Sure. I'll be there in about fifteen. Bye" She ended the call and walked back to Wallace.

"I have to go take care of something for a case, would you mind taking Back Up home for me?"

"Sure, but you owe me _again. _So I'll see you tonight?"

"Six-thirty at the restaurant and my treat for ice cream after. Thanks again Wallace."

"Supafly?" He called after her, she turned to look back at him.

"Be careful" He cautioned, he was always worrying about her when she was on a case, especially when she was so secretive about it.

"Always" She answered before jogging the rest of the way to her car.

------------

"Lizzie?" Veronica was shocked. The girl sitting in front of her slightly resembled Meg's younger sister but it was hard to tell with her face covered in bruises and cuts.

Her left eye was swollen shut. The girl nodded in answer to Veronica's question.

"Apparently Stuart Manning had seen Lizzie talking to Clarence earlier today, and had decided that she was having a sinful relationship with him. Having already lost one daughter to the 'devil's ways' was too much for him, and he took matters into his own hands. She managed to call Clarence's cell from her mobile just before she passed out" Jake explained to her.

The maid arrived with some fresh towels and some more ice. Veronica helped apply them to Lizzie's face. She was shocked that a father could do this to his daughter.

"So have you reported it yet?" She asked. "I should call my dad". She pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket.

"No yet". Clarence stopped her. "By the time I had gotten back to the Manning's house Stuart and Alice had taken Grace and run. If this breaks on the news it will lessen our chances of finding them quickly, if they think that it has gone unnoticed then it's likely they will become more comfortable and slip up, a phone call or credit card transaction. I can find them more quickly this way". He did have a point.

"But, it needs to be reported and documented for child protection services. The longer you leave it the less useful it will be as evidence. We can trust dad, he can make a report but keep it confidential for a few days until you can get a lead on them. You have to make them pay for this". She pleaded with him.

"How do you want to deal with this Jake?" Clarence asked.

"Let's move this discussion to the other room" He suggested.

The two men left the room leaving Veronica alone with Lizzie Manning.

"Oh Lizzie, I am so sorry this happened to you. I tried to help last year, I just didn't have the proof and Lamb being an arsehole didn't help either, another thing he could have done but didn't." she continues dabbing at the bleeding wounds with the soft cloth the maid had left.

"I don't really understand why he did it you know, he went mental after Meg died. Then Duncan took the baby and he really lost it. He pulled me out of school and barely let me leave the house. Gracie was always home schooled so it didn't matter to her. He became fanatical about us learning the bible word for word; he cut off all contact with my friends. He never hit me before now, just threatened it. I'm worried about Grace." She sobbed.

Jake and Clarence returned to the room, having made their decision.

Jake knelt down so he was eye level with the distraught girl. "Lizzie I know this is really hard for you, but we need to handle it just right so that your parents are caught, Grace can be saved from the same, we need to make sure they can't hurt you again, but we need to be able to help clear Duncan as well. I don't mean to make this less about what has happened to you, but can you see now that Duncan did the right thing taking his and Meg's baby? Wouldn't you like to have Meg's daughter back?" He asked gently. Trying his best to convey the sincerity he felt for the girl in his voice.

"I know that's why I helped him escape with her" She stated. "Do what ever you need to, to save Gracie from this and to bring Lilly back". Her voice was firm, indicating her decision was final.

"Thankyou Lizzie" Jake rose and left the room presumably to make some calls. Clarence nodded to the girls before following.

"You've done the right thing" Veronica comforted her. "I am curious about something though. You mentioned helping Duncan before." she prompted.

"Oh that, I simply got him into the nursery at the hospital when Mom and Dad were at work, then distracted the nurses while he escaped with Lilly. He wasn't allowed in there, but I was" She gave Veronica a small smile. "Meg would have hated that stupid name, Faith, anyway. Besides when she woke up she made me promise to help you in anyway I could, so I did. We didn't always get along but I loved her" She finished, swiping at the tears that were running down her cheeks.

The sound of the door bell ringing interrupted their thoughts.

"Thankyou Lizzie, it would mean so much to Meg" She leaned down to give her a hug. Lizzie returned the hug and whispered "I know" in her ear.

"Veronica?" She looked up to see her father and Leo standing in the doorway.

"Hi dad, Leo, this is Lizzie Manning, Meg's sister" She said by way of explanation.

"Lizzie this is my dad and his most trusted Deputy. Anything you tell them will go no further they are here to help you, ok?" She squeezed the girl's hand.

"Jake has explained some things to me but I really need to go through your statement with you. We need to do it while it is fresh in your memory so as not to miss anything, Are you up to this?" He asked gently. It was always hard going through the process with abuse victims but so much harder when it was a child who was the victim.

Lizzie nodded in confirmation. "I want Veronica to stay with me though"

"That's fine. Shall we get started?" He took out his notebook and sat across from the girls.

--------

Veronica had stayed by Lizzie's side through the whole uncomfortable process. It had taken over an hour for Keith to gather all the facts and make sure he had the statement correct. Then Leo had taken the required photos of Lizzie for the police file. Before he had left Keith had taken Veronica aside and told her he was proud of her for doing the right thing. It had meant a lot to hear her dad say that. She wasn't sure she would hear those words from him again after the stuff that had come out in Aaron's trial and her recent bout of breaking and entering, that had almost cost him the election.

A doctor friend of Jake's had arrived after the Sheriff and his Deputy had left to assess the damage. Lizzie had needed stiches in a few of the cuts on her face, apparently caused by her father's class ring. She also had two fractured ribs and a lot of bruises. They couldn't do anything for the ribs but strap them and let them heal naturally. The doctor had given her a lot of pain killers, for her to take as needed and after a shot of morphine she was comfortably resting in one of the spare rooms. It was understood that she would stay at the Kane residence until this situation was resolved.

Having finally worked through the afternoons events in her head, Veronica turned off the shower and headed into her room to get dressed. She was thankful that the maintenance guy had finally installed a decent hot water service a couple of months ago and she could now have a leisurely shower without the hot water running out.

She dressed in her favourite white short denim skirt and a pink satin button down blouse, her hair was in loose ringlets, a pair of chunky sandals on her feet. She checked her appearance in the mirror one last time before applying another layer of lip gloss and heading to the restaurant.

----------

Dinner at the Chinese restaurant had been surprisingly nice. It felt weird to Veronica, how well the Mars and Fennel families meshed. Both Alicia and Keith knew about the planned surprise party for Wallace so dinner was kept relatively short with the excuse that Alicia had rented a video and she and Keith were headed for some quiet time.

Mac expected them around nine so they were well ahead of schedule when they climbed into Veronica's car. Wallace had been so busy chatting excitedly about his trip that he failed to notice that she had by passed the pier and was headed in the direction of the Neptune Grande. It wasn't until they stopped there that Wallace realised where they were.

"Funny looking pier. Did they renovate recently and I missed it?" He asked.

"Nope, this is what it looks like, the 'oh so fabulous' Neptune Grande. Mac is helping Dick with some computer stuff and needs her software disk that I had borrowed, so she asked me to drop it off. We wont be long." She locked the car and headed for the entrance. Wallace following behind her. She quickly sent Mac a text message telling her they were in the lobby before putting her phone in her bag. She wasn't really in the mood for a party after the events of this afternoon but it was for Wallace so she plastered a fake smile on her face and pressed the elevator button to the presidential suite.

She couldn't hear any sound coming from the room as she knocked on the door. That was a good sign it meant that Mac had received her text message and had gotten everyone quietened down.

She knocked on the door, and Dick answered and, lead them into the dim room. "Surprise" was the collective cry as Dick turned the light's on.

"Happy going away party BFF" Veronica said to him. "I need a drink, so you should mingle" She smiled walking over to the refreshments table.

"Drink?" Logan asked her, holding out a mini bottle of rum, a can of coke and a plastic cup.

She hadn't even seen him standing there as she walked over lost in her thoughts.

"Thanks" she took the offered items from him, opening the bottles and pouring her own drink. She smiled at the fact he remembered she no longer drank anything other than what she made herself.

"You remembered. Thanks" She met his gaze.

"Hey wish I could take the credit but it was all Dick. He did the drinks. I think he's trying to make up for the 'emailing your embarrassing college moment thing'" he said taking a drink from his own cup.

Would she ever be able to think as it as that 'embarrassing moment from college'? she hoped so. Surely by next semester everyone would have something new to talk about. Chip Diller's embarrassing situation was only fun for a fortnight before something else came along.

"Seriously though Logan, thankyou, for apologising to Piz and for this party I'm sure Wallace loves it." She took the chance to look around the party. Just about everyone she knew in freshman year at college was here. Wallace certainly had a lot of friends.

"Hey it's not just for him you know" He put one hand on her shoulder and pointed at the wall with the other. Her gaze followed his hand until she saw what he was pointing at. It was a banner with the words "Goodbye Wallace and Veronica" on it.

She had such amazing friends. She gave Logan a quick kiss on the cheek. "In that case thankyou again." She emphasised the thankyou.

"It wasn't all me, you have some pretty cool friends you know, all I did was provide the location, they did the rest. Can you honestly tell me that you had no clue? You're so nosy I was sure you would have worked it out" He teased her.

"None whatsoever" She grinned at him. "Must be losing my touch. I've had other things on my mind" She said excusing herself and walking over to Mac.

"I know" Logan murmured to himself. "And I intend to find out exactly what they are".

-------------------

AN: As always a huge thankyou to the people who have reviewed my story so far. For some strange reason the more reviews I get the quicker I can type. I probably won't update again until the end of the week as I have pretty much done nothing except type for the past three days, and some people in the house are annoyed at my doing "nothing productive". Or so they think ;).

To answer the questions that was left.

**Sun Goddess 13 : ** Duncan will most likely cause problems but probably not in the way you think.

To all my other reviewers once again a HUGE thankyou. It's good to know that some people want this story to continue.


	5. Goodbye Neptune

-1_**Righting the Wrong's**_

_**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing from the Veronica Mars world. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and the networks etc. No money is being made from this. The characters are not mine, I just like to play with them.

**Chapter Five: ** Last day in Neptune

**Chapter Summary: ** Veronica checks in on Lizze, and says goodbye to Logan

**Pairings: **LoVe at a later point. Other pairings will be mentioned, implied or explored.

**Chapter Rating: **This chapter is a K. Will move to M in later chapter's.

AN: This is a short chapter especially compared to my other ones, The last chapter I only got four reviews so I was wondering if it was because the chapters are too long and people are losing interest. I have written it as just a filler chapter before Veronica leaves as the next two chapters will be fairly intense with some sad parts in them. Anyway please review and let me know what you think about chapter length etc, I'll post the next chapter once I have around thirty or so reviews.

------

_Previously:_

"_It wasn't all me, you have some pretty cool friends you know, all I did was provide the location, they did the rest. Can you honestly tell me that you had no clue? You're so nosy I was sure you would have worked it out" He teased her._

"_None whatsoever" She grinned at him. "Must be losing my touch. I've had other things on my mind" She said excusing herself and walking over to Mac._

"_I know" Logan murmured to himself. "And I intend to find out exactly what they are"._

-------------------

So this is it huh?" Wallace said, shifting his hand luggage to his other hand.

"Looks like" she smiled at him. "I'm going to miss you, BFF" and she would, he was her rock. The only person in her life other than Mac that had not let her down so far, in any way.

"Come on now, Mars, don't go getting all girly on me you'll make me cry" he joked.

"_Last call for flight 1672 to Cape Town, please make you way to the boarding gate now"_ the voice came over loud speaker.

"Ok so I expect postcards, or some other primitive form of communication while your there. I do not however, respond well to homing pigeons. Way too messy for me."

"Got it, no pigeons, must find other way to communicate" he gave her a quick hug before walking over to his mother and enveloping her in his arms. "You take care, moms, and thanks for letting me do this"

"I love you, Wallace. Please be careful over there and don't forget your Malaria tablets" she kissed his cheek.

He knelt down on his knees and spoke to his younger brother "You need to be the man now Darrel, look after mom ok?" Darrel nodded. He gave him a quick hug before moving over to Keith.

"Mr Mars, same goes for you, take care of my mom and that little vengeful Tinkerbelle you have over there. No telling what she will get herself into when I'm not around" he shook Keith's hand.

"Sure thing, Wallace. Take care." he picked up Wallace's last bag and handed it to him.

With one last wave Wallace turned and walked through the gate, giving his ticket to the stewardess. Walking down another tunnel he disappeared from sight.

---------------

Veronica pushed the trolley around the convenience store slowly, she had been somewhat lost since Wallace's plane had left three hours earlier. It was a strange new situation for her, after Logan, Duncan and the 09ers had turned on her she hadn't let anyone in close to her, but somehow Wallace had broken down her defence barriers

enough for her to depend on him in certain ways. Sure he had been gone before when he had left for Chicago with his dad, but then she still emailed him everyday, sometimes twice. He didn't answer but at least he was still involved in her life, but now he was off to a remote destination in Africa that had no running water let alone wireless internet.

After wandering around her bedroom aimlessly for an hour she had decided to go pick up a few things for Lizzie Manning, and get the items she should take with her to Virginia. Veronica was almost certain that Jake Kane would have the house stocked with everything Lizzie could need but it was always good to have a personal touch.

After adding a few more items to the trolley she decided that it would do for now, she was definitely not in the mood for shopping. She paid for her purchases and put them in the car, deciding to head over to Jake's now and see how Lizzie was.

"Hi Lizzie" Veronica greeted the younger girl who was watching a DVD in the guest bedroom. "I thought you might appreciate these" she handed her the bag of shampoo and other toiletries.

"Thanks" Lizzie said. "Have you heard anything about my parents yet? I've been here mostly by myself with the maids since yesterday, and I'm getting really worried that they haven't found them yet."

"I haven't spoken to Mr Kane or Mr Weidman today, but I can go to try and find out what's happening if you like. How are you feeling now?" she sat on the edge of Lizzie's bed, careful not to make too much movement so she didn't disturb her broken ribs.

"Like I've been hit by a truck, then it reversed over me to hit me again" she gave a small smile. "I've been sleeping a lot, Mr Kane had a nurse here last night who kept up the morphine whenever I needed it, so it's not so bad today"

"I'll just go and see what I can find out then, I'll try and be back soon" she carefully stood up from the bed.

She hadn't seen anyone in the other rooms when the maid had let her in the house, so if Jake was home Veronica was guessing he would be in the office. She turned down the hallway and headed in the direction of the office she had been in the other day.

Jake was sitting behind his desk typing on his laptop when Veronica knocked on his door.

"Veronica, please come in, I didn't realise you were here" he smiled at her.

"You really should work on your security then" she quipped.

"No point with you is there?" he retorted "Not when you climb through the doggy door". His smile let her know he wasn't angry at her.

"I actually stopped by to drop off some things for Lizzie, and find out how you were getting on with tracking down her parents" She sat on the chair opposite him.

"Clarence is off chasing a lead now, one of their credit cards has been used in New York, other than that progress is slow, painfully slow. How are you going with your progress regarding my son?" he clicked his laptop shut, giving her his full attention.

"I've had someone look into all flight passenger lists out of the place I think he went to before leaving the continent. I can't say anymore than that, or look too closely until we know he can come back without being arrested, after all he went through to get Lilly to safety I wont risk it for him now." she looked defiantly at him, daring him to challenge her.

"I understand, we need to do this right" he acknowledged. "When do you leave for Virginia?"

"Monday at 7.30, I should have excellent coffee making skills by the time I return, anyway I should check on Lizzie again and then head home, I have a lot of packing to do" she rose from the chair

"Before you leave, here are the details I promised for you. Artie Smith is over at the head quarters, I believe he is arranging to take you on as his assistant for your internship. I'm hoping that you may get a chance to get into the files on Duncan and see what they know. You can tell him as much or as little as you need, I haven't involved him before now as I didn't want the risk of someone finding out what he was doing until I was sure there was a way we could get the charges dropped." he walked her to the door. "Good luck, Veronica. I'll be in touch, you shouldn't expect to hear from me before next week though".

--------------

_Sunday afternoon._

She had packed her bags, they were all stacked next to the door ready to go. She had said goodbye to Mac. After spending the day debating with herself she decided to go and see Logan, so here she was knocking on his door. After waiting around for a minute or so she figured that no one was home and was making her way back to the elevator when Logan's voice stopped her.

"Veronica?" he called out to her wearing only a towel "Sorry I was in the shower" he turned and headed back into his suite assuming she would follow him.

She walked into the room, Logan was no where in sight obviously having gone into his own room to dress. Moving aside some surfing magazines she sat on the couch and waited for him.

"So what do I owe the pleasure of your visit. Give me a time and I'll find you an alibi" he winked at her.

"So, I'm guessing you know from the whole going away party, but I'm leaving tomorrow so I just wanted to come by, and say bye basically" she was fidgeting with her bag, somehow being around him when she wasn't 'with' him always made her nervous. It never helped either when he was only wearing shorts and no shirt, as he was now.

"Wow, and you remembered lil old me? I'm touched" he joked.

"I don't know why I bother" she sated rising from the couch and putting her bag on. Logan stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder and taking the bag back off her.

"I'm sorry, don't go yet, bad day, had some stuff going on. It's good to see you" he put her bag down on the floor, sat on the couch and patted the space near him.

"This is hard for me, Logan. I still don't agree with what you did to Piz, he didn't deserve that"

"But he didn't bother to stick up for you either, did he?" he cut her off. "Seriously though Ronnie, the guy's a soft sack. Fair enough he didn't plant the camera but how many people did he make back off from taunting you?" he pointed out.

"He's not like you Logan he doesn't beat fear into people" she spat back.

"That's not what I meant and you know it" he was on his feet now, staring her in the eyes. "There is a difference between beating someone and commanding respect. You know that, you don't need to hit someone to make them back off, how many people have you cut down with your quick wit?" he voice was getting louder.

" My point is that he didn't even try, didn't verbally defend you in anyway. You know that there is no way I would have let that happen. Guys like Gori need to be taken down a peg, you were too intimidated to put him in his place, so I did. End of discussion, but I must point out that I did apologise to Piz and I'm sorry that in this case I got it wrong, but how often have I gotten it right, huh?" his eyes danced with fiery passion.

He was right, she knew it. Countless times in the past he had come to her rescue. She stood up and walked over to him, watching his face for any sign of what he was thinking.

"I know" she brushed her fingers across his cheek "I really do, and I love you for that" she pressed her lips softly to his before pulling away. "It still hurts though, Logan, and I can't pretend it doesn't. Maybe one day it will hurt less, but for now I just need to know that your ok, and that you will stay that way while I'm gone."

"Don't worry about me I'm a big boy" he commented running his hand through her hair. His heart had skipped at beat when she had used the word love, and not loved.

"I know, I just want you to stay out of Gori's way, everyone heard him threaten you and I have no doubt he would find some way to follow through. You humiliated him remember" her voice was soft and full of worry.

"You give him entirely too much credit, sugar puss" he said using his own nickname for her. If it makes you happy I'll stay out of his way, and besides it's summer break and he isn't from here so chances of me running into him are little to none, and by next semester he will have moved onto to something else'.

"I have to go, I have an appointment" he checked in watch "in about three minutes, looks like once again I'll be known for my punctuality"

"You can call me anytime though, you know that" he gave her a brief hug.

"Bye, Logan" she said walking out his door, her chest feeling unusually tight at the thought of not seeing him for the next few months.

---------------------

Thankyou so much to those wonderful people who reviewed. Please keep on reviewing even if it is just one line.

**AJzkitten69: **Glad you like it, hope you like this chapter also.

**Christykg: **Thankyou again for the review, I love hearing what you think on different parts of each chapter. I'm really happy you think Logan is in character he is surprisingly hard to write sometimes with all his different levels.

**Wannabee: ** Here was a little bit of LoVe just for you. If all goes to plan you should find out the plots about the paternity issue with Jake Kane in chapter seven.

**Sun Goddess 13: ** thanks for the kind review. I hated it too when the show was cancelled, but fandom does make it easier.

**Trivia**: What does everyone think of Jason (Logan) in Moonlight. Josef is Logan at his snarkiest. I love it, he needs more scenes though.


	6. Realisations

**_Righting the Wrong's_**

**Disclaimer:**

I own nothing from the Veronica Mars world. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and the networks etc. No money is being made from this. The characters are not mine, I just like to play with them.

**Chapter Six: **Realizations

**Chapter Summary: **Veronica arrives in Virginia, Logan learns something troubling and Mac and Dick's relationship is explored.

**Pairings: **LoVe at a later point. Other pairings will be mentioned, implied or explored.

**Chapter Rating: **This chapter is a M, for bad words and sex themes.

AN: This was supposed to be a sad chapter, but I had this bright idea to move it to the chapter after instead otherwise this chapter would have been over 10,000 words, I'm guessing.

Seeing as I really suck at writing summaries, if someone could suggest something decent I would be grateful. The title is probably bad also, what do you think?

* * *

_Previously: _

_"This is hard for me, Logan. I still don't agree with what you did to Piz, he didn't deserve that""But he didn't bother to stick up for you either, did he?" he cut her off. "Seriously though Ronnie, the guy's a soft sack. Fair enough he didn't plant the camera but how many people did he make back off from taunting you?" he pointed out._

_"He's not like you Logan he doesn't beat fear into people" she __spat__ back._

_"That's not what I meant and you know it" he was on his feet now, staring her in the eyes. "There is a difference between beating someone and commanding respect. You know that, you don't need to hit someone to make them back off, how many people have you cut down with your quick wit?" he voice was getting louder._

_" My__ point is that he didn't even try, didn't verbally defend you in anyway. You know that there is no __way I would have let that happen__. Guys like __Gori__ need to be taken down a __peg,__ you were too intimidated to put him in his place, so I did. End of discussion, but I must point out that I did apologize to Piz and I'm sorry that in this case I got it wrong, but how often have I gotten it right, huh?" his eyes danced with fiery passion._

_He was right, she knew it. Countless times in the past he had come to her rescue. She stood up and walked over to him, watching his face for any sign of what he was thinking._

_"I know" she brushed her fingers across his cheek "I really do, and I love you for that" she pressed her lips softly to his before pulling away. "It still hurts though, Logan, and I can't pretend it doesn't. Maybe one day it will hurt less, but for now I just need to know that you're ok, and that you will stay that way while I'm gone."_

* * *

A seven hour flight crammed into the same position had left Veronica in a very bad mood. As if a seven hour flight by itself wasn't bad enough, the flight had been delayed for forty minutes before takeoff. Forty minutes spent sitting on a tarmac, and now she was in the same position. After circling for twenty minutes due to bad weather the plane had now landed but was sitting motionless on a tarmac, waiting for the five planes that had also been held off to unload their passengers. 

It was two hours later by the time Veronica had finished collecting her five bags from the baggage claim counter and was looking around for any sign of the FBI agent she was told would meet her here.

"Are you Veronica Mars?" a voice asked.

"I am" she turned around to see a young guy in his late twenties standing behind her.

"Oh good" he said "I was beginning to think I had missed you" he reached down to pick up some of her bags.

"Sorry, the plane was delayed. As if a seven hour flight in coach wasn't bad enough" she smiled at him.

"Ok, I was instructed to meet you here and show you the ropes, basically where you'll be staying, how to get to head quarters etc." he retrieved the last of her bags and loaded them on a luggage trolley.

"Not to sound rude or anything, but I didn't quite catch your name" she knew better than to leave with someone she didn't know.

"Oh god I'm sorry" he reached for his badge "My name is Daniel West, Agent Daniel West actually. It's been awhile since I have mixed with anyone outside of work I completely forgot my manners"

"No problem, lead the way" she followed him outside to where his car was parked.

He loaded her bags into the back of an indiscriminant black SUV.

"Wow, so the FBI really is all black cars with dark windows then" she commented.

"Only if you're in the field" he said "are you hungry? From memory in flight food usually sucks."

"It does" she agreed. "You have time for food? You're not needed elsewhere?" She closed her door and put on her seat belt.

Daniel laughed. "Despite what you see in the movies and on TV its not all action all the time, there's a hell of a lot of desk work and meetings to attend, as you will see for yourself soon enough"

She felt slightly silly. Of course it wasn't all action. She made a mental note not to ask any more questions for the time being.

They had stopped via Subway for a quick snack before he took her to the intern quarters. "So home, sweet home," he handed her a key and a large yellow envelope. "All that you need to know is in there. I'll stop by at nine in the morning, usually we all work out around seven but seeing as it's your first day they will let you off". He handed her a card "If you need anything just call I have to go and meet the other intern flying in from somewhere"

"Thanks. See you tomorrow" she said putting the key in the lock and opening the door. It was a small apartment, with one bedroom and a kitchen nook. A small bathroom led off the bedroom. It was bigger than the dorms at Hearst, and surprisingly a lot better than she had expected. It was a definite bonus that she didn't have to share with another nosy intern wanting to know what she was up to all the time.

It had taken just over an hour to unpack and put away her things, she should be tired, but wasn't due to the amount of sleep she had managed to get on the plane.

She spotted the yellow envelope and Daniel's card that she had thrown down on the table earlier and decided that now was a good a time as any to get familiar with the program.

The envelope contained a welcome letter, rules for using the facilities such as the gym and swimming pool, a general schedule for the week, nothing surprising really except for the sealed letter in the back.

She opened the letter and sat on her bed to read it.

_Veronica,_

_Welcome to the FBI intern program. I had a call from Jake Kane earlier checking on the details and I was pleased to tell him that I have arranged for you to be my assistant. I hope you find your accommodation somewhat comfortable. I was able to pull an agents room for you instea__d of the usual__ intern accommodations which consist of twin beds and no privacy. A car has also been arranged for your personal use here, and expenses have been paid for, please use the card in any way you see fit, looking forward to meeting you tomorrow._

_Artie_

His business card was enclosed and she pressed her thumbs on the corners like Jake had shown her out of curiosity. The Castle's symbol appeared under Artie's name. Did they have people everywhere? She had hoped she made the right decision getting involved with them. The last item in Artie's letter was a credit card with her name on it. As an afterthought she picked up Daniel's card and pressed her thumbs once again on the bottom corners. The card didn't change, indicating that he wasn't a member of the Castle; she filed that information away in her head for future reference.

She wondered if this was standard for all interns, then giggled at the absurdity of it all. A credit card, personal car and comfortable accommodations, perhaps the Castle wasn't so bad after all, and she was only an associate member.

Thoughts of the Castle in turn led her to thoughts of Logan and his mysterious meeting. She had tried to get him to bite but he wouldn't tell her where he was going, or who he was seeing. Sure he had laughed at the thought of Gori when she had warned him to be careful but he didn't know what she did, and she couldn't really tell him anything without revealing the Castle.

Knowing that she wouldn't relax properly until she knew he was taken care of she pulled out her phone and dialed Jake Kane's cell phone number. He answered after a few rings.

"Veronica?" Obviously he had caller i.d

"Hi Mr Kane, I'm sorry to call you again so soon, but I just need to discuss something with you."

"That's fine, just let me excuse myself from this meeting and I'll call you back" he told her.

"I can call back later if that's better for you?" she had caught him at a bad time obviously.

"No it's fine, give me five minutes. Bye" he closed the connection.

She still felt strange, working for Jake Kane, after spending all that time avoiding him and his family not to mention the history between her dad and him, and her mom. The quicker she found Duncan the quicker things could get back to normal.

* * *

Logan shifted positions in the plastic chair. He once again cursed the owner of the office. Surely with the amount of money the rich clients spent in this damn place you would think that they would at least get them a decent chair to sit on, while waiting for them to get their heads shrunk. 

"Hey Logan" a voice interrupted his thoughts; he looked over to see Casey Grant sitting down on the chair across from him.

"Casey. What brings you to this fine establishment?" he was surprised to see the other boy here, Casey could be an arse at times but he generally kept put of any major trouble.

"Cult deprogramming, this time every week, lucky me. The rentals are worried that if I miss a session I might sell their house in order to buy some more cows" he joked "You?"

"Anger m-a-n-a-g-e-m-e-n-t" he said drawing out the last word. "The newest Deputy doesn't like me so much, this was the only way they would release me, well that and a three month probation with a nice list of conditions attached"

"So how many arrests does this make? Four, five?" he asked tapping his foot on the floor.

"Lost count, but apparently I "have anger issues that I am unable to deal with leading me to vent my anger in inappropriate ways" so here I am". He and Casey had never been overly friendly at school, and this new sensitive side to him almost made Logan uncomfortable.

"Anger huh? Last I saw you in Aspen you were going for the drunken depressed look."

"You were in Aspen over winter break?" he sat up slightly straighter at the realization

"Of course, although I guess I can't blame you for not remembering, you were pretty out of it when I ran into you, probably about two shots from passing out actually. I tried to stop Madison from giving you that E, but you told me to mind my own damn business, so I did" he stretched in the chair, skin sticking to the cheap plastic. The air-conditioning wasn't working apparently.

"So let me get this straight" Logan ran through what Casey had just told him "you saw me wasted over winter break, on the verge of passing out and Madison gave me an E?"

"Yup, Dick took you back to your room afterwards, then came back to party with us, last I saw Madison she was hitting on some poor unsuspecting guy at the bar" he confirmed.

"So to be sure, you saw Madison with another guy at the bar, while I was almost very much out of it? We weren't together at all?" maybe things didn't happen the way Madison had said after all.

"No, on the verge of passing out dude, is on the verge of passing out. There's no way you would have been able to give any action that night, not even if Miss Universe wanted a ride" he smirked at him.

"Thanks Casey, hey you can have my spot something just came up" he almost ran from the room to his car. If what Casey said was true then it was all lies, and he didn't sleep with Madison at all.

* * *

Mac was sitting under a shade at the beach. Her laptop purred at her side and various books were spread out in front of her. She mostly wasn't a beach kind of girl but she had decided to come down here and clear her head. 

She watched Dick get dumped by another wave before returning to her screen. She had been researching all she knew of Kane technology. An official looking letter had arrived at her house that morning offering her an intensive summer internship. After the initial jump for joy she had originally done, her conscience had kicked in and she had started to wonder if this was more to do with what she knew about the Castle and Duncan's disappearance than her computer skills.

She had chosen the beach as her place of solitude simply because no one would look for her there. Since moving out of her dorm for the summer and back into her parents house they had been smothering her, obviously they could feel her pulling away from them and the further she pulled away the closer they tried to be with her.

This past year had been about trying to deal with Cassidy and healing herself rather than exploring the topic of being switched at birth. That had been buried deep under the outer layers of her personality, shoved in the 'deal with later' box that lived inside her head.

So far her research had returned the expected things on Kane software, such as their invention of streaming video and the various platforms for internet and gaming since, but nothing deeper. More than one article had popped up regarding the murder of Lilly Kane, but nothing regarding the Castle, it was unusually well protected, even to her.

She knew that Veronica was trying to locate Duncan that much was obvious when she had given her instructions to look for the flight passenger lists. Mac had originally doctored some fake i.ds complete with credit histories and drivers licenses for him, with an unspoken agreement to never speak of it again. So why was Veronica looking for him now? Only a week after she was caught breaking into Jake Kane's house to retrieve the hard drive they had spent hours hacking into. Mac wasn't stupid she had seen the footage also, but there was no way she would ever admit to it.

A shadow fell over her towel and she looked up to see Dick standing there, board in hand dripping water onto the sand.

"Can I help you?" she asked him.

"Not at this point, but maybe later, so in advance, thanks" he headed past her presumably to his car.

Dick was another situation she wasn't overly comfortable with and couldn't seem to straighten out. Ever since he had shown up at her dorm that night, they had met nearly every night since. It started with the goodbye party

_The noise of the party and Max clinging to her was starting to drive her mad. In general she __tried__ to avoid the Neptune Grande and definitely any parties, but this had been the best location for it and she would be lying if she didn't admit that something inside of her had said if there were good memories being made here__ then one day they might outweigh the bad._

_She looked around quickly to make sure no one had followed her before pressing the button for the roof. A short trip later__ and she was there__, the place her first loved had tried to kill her best friend before jumping to his death._

_Her emotions flicked though her one by one as she walked over to the edge and looked down, Grief, anger, sadness, and guilt. All of them negative, all of them painful._

_"Doesn't make it any easier does it?" _

_She hadn't even seen Dick standing at the edge further down. Was he here before her or did he only just arrive?_

_"I come here almost every night, but it's never any eas__i__er" he drained the last of his beer can and opened a new one. She noticed he had a collection of empty ones by his side and a few full ones destined for the same fate._

_"So why come here?" it came out harsher than it should have, but she hadn't expected to have to put on a brave face up here._

_"''C__ause it's where he died, makes me feel closer to him, and no one else bothers to come up here and that way I don't have to try and make them think I'm fine" he raised the can to his lips again._

_"Oh" it was an answer, one that made sense the more she though__t__ it through._

_She sat down next to him on the box near the ledge. Silently he handed her a beer, and she opened it grimacing at the initial taste._

_"Do you think Logan tried to stop him?" he asked her. Maybe she would answer where Logan hadn't._

_"Would you __have? __If he wasn't your brother.__ If instead he had raped your girlfriend and murdered twelve people?" she refused to look at him._

_"I take it that's a no" his voice was sad._

_"I think some part of him tried, maybe not hard enough, maybe too hard. You have to let it go Dick, they won't ever tell you exactly what happened. You know that right?" she said softly._

_"Did he hurt you Mac?" his question surprised her._

_"Not physically" physically he hadn't, but emotionally he had tortured her, she still had nightmares regularly and the guilt of pushing him too hard to be normal__ in the way of intimacy__ never left her, not for a second. Maybe it wasn't him, but her__ that wasn't good enough, wasn't attractive enough for him to want her, if she had of been he would have felt normal and none of it would have happened._

_"__It's not your fault, you know that" he was unusually perceptive. _

_"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't" she replied "but if it's not my fault then it's not yours either, or Logan's or Veronica's" she was offering him a kind of absolution. If he believed it wasn't her fault then by her rules he needed to believe it wasn't his either._

_She handed him the empty can and went back to the party._

He had shown up at her parents' house the next time, at two am, knocking on her window. She had climbed outside it and walked with him for over two hours, around the streets of the neighborhood, they didn't speak, and they didn't need to. Being near each other was comforting, they didn't want verbal reassurances. Somewhere on the roof of the Grande they had given each other understanding, made a silent alliance that they alone understood each other's grief.

Every night since they had spent at least part of the early morning hours together, walking or sitting on the beach, never talking, just taking comfort in each other's presence. They had ran into each other during the day sometimes, at the store or various other places around Neptune, usually they didn't even bother to speak, a quick glance was all the acknowledgment they afforded each other.

The fact that he had known she was there unnerved her, that he had come over to speak to her was worse. She was just beginning to accept the level of companionship they had, she didn't know if she could deal if he changed the rules just yet.

Deciding she had had enough of the sun for one day she packed up her belongings and headed for her car. The internship letter had requested a meeting with Jake Kane. If she went at least then she would know what it was all about. She pulled out her phone and dialed the number on the letter, setting up a meeting for the next day.

* * *

Logan got out of his car and strode across the street with purpose. He had spent the last half hour at the beach going over what Casey had told him. If Casey was right then he didn't sleep with Madison at all over winter break. He had never liked her at school and he couldn't imagine why she had thought it was any different now. His mind wandered back to the recollection he had of that night over winter break. 

_It had been a few weeks since he had broken up with Veronica. Even though he had been the one to break it off it still hurt like hell, and he had discouraged every floozy that had wandered near him. One night stands would seem meaningless after he had been with her. Alcohol, his old friend would be the one to keep him company tonight._

_He had been sitting near the bar for hours drinking, sometimes by himself, sometimes with Dick, when Madison had come over to him._

_"Hey __Logie__" she purred at him._

_God he hated when she called him that, she had tried to get in his pants as long as he could remember._

_"What do you want Madison? I'm not in the mood for company" his tone was clear._

_"I just thought that I should say hi seeing as it's been __soooo__ long since I've seen you" she put her hand on his shoulder, leaning forward to give him a decent view of her cleavage._

_"Well you've said it, but I'm still not interested. Sorry" he had turned his back to her at that point, hoping if she didn't get his verbal language then his body language might convey __i__t clearer._

_"Fine" she had huffed before wandering off. That was the last he remembered of Madison Sinclair__, until he had woken up the next morning with her in bed next to him._

_When he had first woken up his vision was blurry still, his head pounding. He sensed the girl in the bed next to him and in his hung over state stupidly thought the blonde hair had meant that somehow Veronica had come back to him._

_"Hey" he had whispered, running his hand through her hair._

_The girl in his bed had turned to face him and he was horrified to find that it wasn't Veronica in his bed, but Madison Sinclair._

_"What the fuck are you doing here?" he had demanded, removing himself from the bed as quickly as he could._

_He immediately regretted the quick movements as his stomach churned and he felt the bile rising in his throat. Running into the bathroom he lent over the toilet and emptied a mixture of bile and alcohol into the bowl. He retched until there was nothing left in his stomach, before brushing his teeth and heading back to the other room_

_Madison was dressed when he got there. _

_"Why are you here, Madison?" he had demanded again._

_"Logan?" she asked with wide eyed innocence "you don't remember? We hooked up last night, you brought me back here"_

_Oh god, he thought. He had had sex with her, if Veronica ever found out; he didn't even want to think about what would happen then._

_"You need to leave" he pushed her towards the door._

_"Hey I'll stop by next time I'm in town" she smirked at him as he shut the door in her face._

He had spent the remainder of that day rotating between drinking and throwing up trying to rid himself of any trace of her, and now he had discovered that he probably didn't even have sex with her in the first place. Any hope that was left inside him prayed for it to be true.

He pounded on the door, impatiently waiting for it to open.

"Logan, is anything wrong?" Mrs. Sinclair asked when she opened the door

"Oh I'm sorry Mrs. Sinclair I didn't think the doorbell was working, is Madison home by any chance? I would really like to see her" he smiled at her trying to make it seem like it was just a genuine visit.

"She is in her room, if you would like to come in and wait I'll go and get her for you" she stood aside allowing him to enter into the foyer.

"That would be great". He walked through into the library whilst Mrs. Sinclair headed up the stairs, presumably to Madison's bedroom.

He didn't have long to wait before Madison appeared in the doorway, wearing a low cut top that revealed way too much and a short skirt that rode up as she walked. Typical Madison attire.

"Logan, it's so good to see you" she purred at him in a sweet voice.

He turned to face her, anger evident on his face.

"Madison. I'm going to ask you something and so help me you had better answer it truthfully" he put his hands on the sides of the brown leather recliner, not trusting himself to not lash out at his surroundings if the answer was as he expected it.

"Logan, is something wrong?"

He saw straight through the pretend concern in her voice.

"Did we have sex that night in Aspen?" he demanded.

The color drained from her face, "We hooked up" she replied.

"That's not what I asked" he spat at her "Did you and I have sex that night?" he yelled at her.

"No" she confirmed what he suspected.

"Then tell me why you told Veronica we did" he voice was deadly calm but laced with venom.

Madison was slightly frightened by him now, she didn't think he would hurt her, but everyone knew not to cross Logan.

"I've wanted you for a very long time Logan, you knew that. You were there nursing your broken heart and I didn't have a date. By the time I gave you that E, you were so far gone, you thought I was Veronica. Dick took you back to the room and left you there, when I arrived, you let me in, wearing nothing , nice equipment by the way. You kissed me once, called me sugar puss and promptly passed out. My roommate had taken some guy back so I decided to sleep there, maybe your energy would be renewed and we could have hooked up during the night. We didn't" she didn't seem sorry at all.

"So why let me believe we had? Why taunt Veronica and tell her we hooked up? Have you no shame you little whore?" he spat at her.

"Because you humiliated me Logan, called me a slut at the bar, so when the situation presented itself I would have slept with you to get back at her, besides you asked me if we hooked up, and we did sort of or at least would have if you weren't so weak" she smirked at him.

"You have no idea what you have done have you?" he couldn't believe her. If she was a guy he'd have happily beaten he crap out of her, anger management sessions or not. Veronica had dumped him for good based on something that hadn't even happened.

"Oh boo hoo, what a sob story, It's not like I didn't do you a favor anyway" she examined her nails. "Everyone knows you're too good for the likes of her, poor little cheap ho from the wrong side of town"

He couldn't take it anymore. He pushed past her and out the door slamming it as he went. A few seconds later tires were heard squealing as he took off down the street.

"How could you?" Emily Sinclair confronted her daughter. "I heard every word that was said. Is this what you do? run around flaunting money that was never yours anyway, acting like a prissy little slut?" Her voice seethed with anger. She had heard Logan confronting Madison, heard him shouting at her but didn't interrupt, he was only confirming what she had been suspecting for a very long time.

"What can I say mother? I learnt from the best didn't I? I learnt it all from you" she spat at her.

Emily had slapped Madison across the face before she had even realized her hand was moving. "I raised you better than this, we raised you better than this, you're not even our daughter, but we raised you anyway, I should have known better. Get out" she ran from the library leaving Madison standing there stunned, rubbing the red imprint on her cheek, wondering what her mother meant. Could she be adopted?

* * *

**MarsLoVe4eVer: **It will definitely be LoVe eventually, not sure about the DuVe yet maybe just in flash backs. Not sure that would fit in too well with the story line and hopefully by chapter eight you should know why. 

**Ajzkitten69: **Glad you liked the LoVe.

**LoVefan4ever: **Thanks for your review, here's another long chapter.

**LoVeElle**Thanks for the idea of writing this chapter with lot's of Logan. Hopefully it has paved the way for more LoVe soon.

**Vmfan387: **Glad you like it. I think Vee really needs to start opening up to the people who are important to her, in order to patch up things.

**Wanabee**More LoVe coming soon. Logan had the appointment sorry, I was in a rush to get it up before work got in the way.

**Sun Goddess 13: **Thanks again for another review. I like the longer one's too for the same reason. I had originally just put Logan's appointment in there as a way to end it, but, thanks to your question it allowed me to throw in the sub plot and resolve a few Madison issue's.

**Christykg** I was originally just going to write it mainly from Veronica's p.o.v but I think that in order to sufficiently explore the sub plots I need the others too, so thanks for the idea. Hope you like the chapter.

**AN: **I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing for anyone. The FBI sub plot isn't a main storyline in here so Veronica will probably only remain there long enough to get what she needs to find Duncan before a tragedy brings her back, unfortunately I'm expecting the next two chapters too have some very sad undertones depending on how you view them. As always keep up the reviews as the often give me ideas and clear up the writer's block, I look forward to reaching the 40 mark, it's better than red bull.


	7. Working with Artie

**Righting the Wrong's**

**Disclaimer:**

I own nothing from the Veronica Mars world. It all belongs to Rob Thomas and the networks etc. No money is being made from this. The characters are not mine; I just like to play with them.

**Chapter Seven **Working with Artie

**Chapter Summary:** Veronica works with Artie in the Missing Persons section and finds the case files on Duncan, Mac tells Dick she was switched at birth and Logan tell's Dick what Madison did.

**Pairings: **LoVe at a later point. Other pairings will be mentioned, implied or explored.

**Chapter Rating: **M for bad words, drug references and sexual themes.

* * *

_Previously:_

_"You have no idea what you have done have you?" he couldn't believe her. If she was a guy he'd have happily beaten he crap out of her, anger management sessions or not. Veronica had dumped him for good based on something that hadn't even happened._

_"Oh boo hoo, what a sob story, It's not like I didn't do you a favour anyway" she examined her nails. "Everyone knows you're too good for the likes of her, poor little cheap ho from the wrong side of town"_

_He couldn't take it anymore. He pushed past her and out the door slamming it as he went. A few seconds later tires were heard squealing as he took off down the street_.

* * *

Logan let himself into suite he shared with Dick and slammed the door. Throwing his keys on the table along with his cell phone he headed straight for his room pulling his short off as he went. He changed into a loose pair of workout shorts and was busy giving the punching bag in his room a work out when Dick wandered in. 

The therapist he was seeing for his anger issues had suggested he install a punching bag and use it regularly as a way of relieving tension and stress, it was also supposed to provide a good workout, but he had never bothered to actually use it before today.

"Dude, you want to talk about it?" Dick watched his friend hitting the bag with every ounce of strength he could muster.

"Your ex girlfriend is a lying whore." He belted the bag again, wincing as his fist made contact with the unforgiving object.

"Oh you must be talking about Madison, I need a drink for this" he headed out of the room and returned shortly after with a beer in one hand and a bottle of water for Logan.

"What happened?" he asked flopping down on Logan's king size bed.

"In a nutshell?" He stopped hitting the punching bag and took the offered bottle of water. "I never slept with Madison, I ran into Casey today and he said that when he saw me was in Aspen I was very plastered and on the verge of passing out. He also mentioned that he saw Madison slip me an E. I realised that I didn't remember anything about it, then when he told me that you took me back to the room and he saw her hitting on another guy I thought it didn't add up"

Taking a long drink he wiped the sweat from his face with a towel. "A little visit to Madison confirmed what I've always thought, she's slutty white trash. I never had sex with her, she just made me think I did, and telling Veronica was part of some sick revenge plot because I refused to screw her, she's one twisted chick"

"She wasn't always" Dick defended his one time girlfriend.

"Maybe not back then, but now she's just dammed lucky I don't hit women" he said.

"Sorry dude, that really sucks" Dick comforted him "are you going to tell Ronnie?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure. Maybe it's just not meant to be, you know. Perhaps the only epic thing about us is the ability to hurt each other" after all that was what they did best wasn't it?

"Wanna play some Halo?" Dick asked, already heading to the other room to set up the game.

That was good old Dick; nothing seemed to faze him much.

"Sure" why not? Halo was always a good way to take Logan's mind off things. He had no clue what to do with the information he had learned. A big part of him wanted to find Veronica, all the way in Virginia and tell her about Madison, but a part of him was still hurting over how she had chosen Piz over him, telling him that they were done.

When he had told her about the tape, she had refused to even consider the possibility the guy could have done something, but if it was Logan he had no doubt that he would have paid in spades, guilty or not. That was the pattern wasn't it? Never give him the benefit of the doubt, his brain started going back through the times had doubted him in the past – the cameras in the pool house, Lilly's murder, flashed painfully before him.

No, she never did trust him enough, so maybe it just wasn't worth it after all.

* * *

"You do realise your late right?" Mac said allowing Dick to help her climb out of her window once again. She had been waiting for him to show up for the past two hours, wondering if he had decided not to come anymore after he had thanked her on the beach twelve hours earlier. 

They headed in the direction of the beach before he spoke "Sorry, I had to deal with Logan. He's kind of screwed up right now"

"Oh, something new then?" she focused on the footsteps she was taking. One foot in front of the other, she wasn't used to talking with him and she was never one for idle chit chat at the best of times, preferring silence to "how's the weather" type topics.

It was a cooler night than most and Mac berated herself for forgetting to bring a jacket. She was surprised when Dick his own off and offered it to her.

"Thanks" she put it on. It smelled strongly of him.

He was sober tonight, or at least hadn't drunk enough to make him tipsy. It seemed to be a good sign. Maybe he was starting to work through things.

"So, I never saw you as a beach type" he commented.

So there it was she had been wondering if he would bring it up.

"Yeah bad day, the beach is the only place my family wouldn't think to look for me." She was picking up handfuls of sand and letting it trickle through her fingers. "Or maybe I just had a sudden desire to become a beach bum and watch the hot surfies" she joked.

He didn't question her further, instead his hand found hers, entwining their fingers. He tried hard not to look at her; instead he kept his eyes on the moonlit waves crashing softly on the sand not far from them.

They continued to sit in silence enjoying the comfort of having someone close. Usually Mac was very tight lipped about the issues in her life. Sometimes she confided in Veronica, but mostly she just bottled things up. A learned behaviour left from when she didn't have any friends.

"My parent's aren't my biological parents" there she had said it. She hadn't told anyone since Veronica had discovered it, not even her therapist.

"Your adopted?" he suggested what he thought was the most logical answer.

"More like switched at birth" she chanced at look at him then, gauging his reaction, her eyes met his.

"That's-"he was lost for words. Instead he used his fingers to convey what he felt, drawing soft circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.

"It gets better; my real parents live here in town. I've seen them sometimes; I've even spoken with my real mom a few times, I think she knew that I had figured it out, but we never spoke about it until today." She shivered slightly in the cool breeze, unconsciously moving closer to Dick.

"When I left the beach today she was waiting outside my house. She wants me to come to dinner and officially meet my father and sister, to try and have some kind of family relationship" she finished.

"Is that what you want?" he asked her

"I think so, I don't know for sure. I've never fit in with the Mackenzie's; they are so different from me. It's just huge, you know, this could change my entire life. And the girl who is their biological daughter, only found out today. It's not that I've ever liked her but I still feel bad for her. It's a huge shock"

"Do you want to tell me who it is? You don't have to" he soothed.

"Oh, you'll love this" she grinned at him "I was switched at birth with none other than Madison Sinclair"

"Well that explains a lot" he agreed.

"What?" she had expected some sort of exclamation and a typical Dick comment of "dude, no way"

"I said it explains a lot. She is nothing like Emily or David. They are into computers and books, and refuse to eat meet. Madison is more concerned with how her hair looks and which diet is in" He let go of her hand and stood up, the sun was beginning to peep above the horizon and soon the early morning beach goers would start arriving.

He offered her his hand and she took it, allowing Dick to help her up, instead of dropping her hand when she was standing, he kept her hand firmly clasped in his as they headed back to her house.

The walk back to her house seemed shorter when he was holding her hand. Mac was more confused than ever. Yesterday he had sort her out on the beach and this morning he had comforted her and was now holding her hand.

Once they reached her window he boosted her up and helped her inside. She shrugged out of his jacket and handed it back to him.

"Do you maybe want to get some lunch tomorrow?" he asked shyly.

"I can't Dick" she said watching his face fall. "It's not that I don't want to but I have a boyfriend remember. I know that something has changed, but it's not fair to him so until I can sort things out in my screwed up head lunch is a bad idea. I do however, do midnight strolls" she said trying to soften the blow a little "so will I see you again tonight? I'd like that".

"Sure" he brightened a little "I'll try and come by earlier"

"Sounds good" Mac agreed.

"Sweet dreams" he kissed her hand softly before heading down the street to where he had left his car.

* * *

_The following Wednesday_

Veronica paced herself as she made her way around the track for the fifth time that morning. Never having been one for track at school she was quite surprised when she found out that she had come to like the early morning jogging and weight sessions.

As an agent one of the various fitness programs provided by the FBI was mandatory, and it was no different for the five young adults interning that summer. She had tried swimming laps, and aerobics but neither had agreed with her like running had. It gave her time to process her thoughts as she jogged along each day, iPod attached to an arm band.

So far she had been here just over a week. It was interesting, but at the same time not what she expected. Last week she had been in a different section each day, Profiling, Fraud, Homicide, and Strategic Management. She had been into he secure room where the hard copy of files were kept six times now, but as of yet hadn't been able to find a way or an excuse to access Duncan Kane's file.

Artie had promised to get her in there this week. He had ended up getting called away on a case last week so after a quick introduction with him she had spent most of the week shadowing Daniel, who had shown her through the appointed sections, then left, leaving here with the agents who ran that particular section. She had been right when she had told Jake that her coffee making skills would improve considerably.

Finishing the last lap she headed for the shower, if she was quick she may have time for breakfast, which she had missed the last two mornings because she had slept in. Old habits were hard to break, she was just so used to working late hours looking for money shots that she found it really difficult to fall asleep before three each morning.

She had finally finished going through the passenger transcripts last night, it had taken longer than she expected as Duncan had used a good portion of money buying many tickets in all four aliases to various locations, and she now had five possible locations with four different names, which left her with about twenty lines of enquiry to follow up.

It pleased her though, that he had listened to what she and Mac had told him, and it looked as though he had made a big effort in confusing his whereabouts to anyone who had bothered to look into it.

Veronica would be lying also if she didn't admit that many of the sleepless hours she laid awake in bed were spent on thinking about Logan. Her worry had slightly eased since talking with Jake about Gori, but had dissolved altogether, she just couldn't shake the feeling that Gori would still go after him.

The conversation with Jake regarding Gori had been interesting, he had told her that the Castle had already decided to discipline Gori regarding his reckless use of information obtained by them, and that the group was most displeased that his actions had forced them into a situation where they had been closely looked into by her. Apparently it had shaken up some of the older members that a young girl was able to break through their initial defences and they blamed Gori.

Once she had told Jake the events leading to Gori's threat against Logan he had assured her that he would also address that issue, and that Gori would be instructed to 'let it go' and not to approach her or Logan again.

If it played out the way he said it would then it was comforting, but Jake hadn't seen the fury in Gori's face when he had threatened Logan, and the phrase "hell hath no fury like a Gori scorned" came to mind.

Grabbing an apple and an orange juice she made her way over to the main building and up to the main reception area ready to meet Daniel and be palmed off into another department for an exciting round of coffee making and paper shredding.

She was pleasantly surprised when she saw that it wasn't Daniel waiting for her but Artie.

"Hello Veronica" he greeted her "I trust you are adapting well?" he handed her a file and indicated that she should follow him.

"I am thankyou Agent Smith" she walked faster to keep up with him. He led her into his office and shut the door.

"I've arranged for us to visit the Missing Person's team today, which as you may or may not know involves both the general missing person's and person's who have been abducted. I'm sorry it has taken us this long to get around to looking into Jake's son's case, but I honestly didn't expect to get called away last week" he drank the rest of his coffee before continuing.

"Now in order not to raise any suspicion, I'm going to lead the team through a general recap of the current cases, and then get you to re file the case files, during which time you should be able to note the reference number on Duncan's case, from there we can access it on the tech data base from this computer. Any questions?"

"No that covers it" she answered.

Artie led the way up one floor and into the missing persons unit. The walls were covered with photo's one missing persons, there were various tables and computers scattered about the room and over to the side was a storeroom with clear windows in which she could see rows of filing cabinets, obviously the file room.

"Good morning team" Artie addressed the assembled agents as he walked to the front of the room. "This is my shadow this summer, Veronica Mars" he gestured to her. "Now seeing as I was called away last Thursday and missed the weekly brief I have asked that we have one this week instead of next as I will most likely be away again. Agent Carr, please walk me through where we are at with the current cases. Veronica take a seat."

She was amazed at the way he commanded attention from the others, everyone immediately followed his orders with a quite air of calm throughout the room. It was obvious that Artie was well liked and not just a higher ranking agent.

Agent Carr was a brunette in her forties; she had taken up position near the main whiteboard and was using a pointer to direct their attention to the appropriate cases as she spoke.

"We have a new lead on the Sara Kline case, Nathanial Brown has been found safe and well at his father's house in Mexico, we are waiting on DNA for Michelle Vector's case. The status of the other cases remains unchanged with no new leads we are continuing to follow up any relevant lines of enquiry. We have a few new cold cases this month – Kane, Jackson, Manning, South well, Smith, Dickson and Solman have all moved over seeing as they have been opened for more than eighteen months with no new leads" The last part she had added for Veronica's benefit as she was the intern and probably didn't know the process of case classification.

So both Duncan and Lilly were classed as missing people that was interesting but made sense.

An hour later and Veronica was in the file room, piles of folders stacked by her side, filing them in order but waiting for the agents to go to lunch so she could get the reference numbers for Duncan and Lilly.

It was almost twelve now and the room was emptying, thankfully interns ate separately at one so it wasn't anything unusual her staying behind to keep filing.

Once the last agent had left she seized the opportunity and used her cell phone to take photos of the reference number on each case. She had thought about writing them down but didn't want to take a chance at getting them wrong, it was unlikely she would get back in here again. If she needed to email them to Mac for any reason, it was a bonus that they were already on file.

By the time the agents started returning all of the files had been neatly refiled in their correct locations. It was a relief when Artie found her. "Do you think you have a thorough understanding of Missing Persons now, Veronica?" he asked her, hidden code for did you get what you need?

"Yes, Agent Smith, I believe I do" she answered his question

"Very well, why don't you take an early lunch then?" he offered.

* * *

After lunch Veronica and Artie had accessed the computer's database records on Duncan Kane and 'Faith' Manning. 

Mostly the information there what she had expected. Duncan's file was more detailed, listing his history of taking anti-depressants and his type four epilepsy. Veronica's name was scattered throughout in reference to his supposed movements upon leaving Neptune, and she thought it hilarious that although the Agents in Missing Person's had been introduced to her none of them had connected the dots.

The main item of interest in the file to her had to do with the Manning's. Apparently the FBI had tried to investigate the claims of child abuse made by Meg, in her emails stored on Duncan's hard drive, but seeing as Meg's emails didn't reference Grace's name they did not have enough evidence for a search warrant.

She got the feeling from reading the file that FBI hadn't tried overly hard to find Duncan after he had left the country and they had happened upon that evidence.

If they could locate the Manning's and have them formerly charged it looked like Duncan could return home with minimal charges laid against him.

It was almost seven now as Veronica finished making dinner. It was an easy routine that she had slipped into. Finish around five thirty, stop by the store and pick up the ingredients for dinner. Every now and then she would pick up a small bottle of wine, enough for one or two glasses. Her dad had gotten her into the habit of enjoying some wine with an Italian meal and tonight she was making lasagne, enough for three nights. The store had been out of the small bottles so she had gotten a large bottle guessing it would last as long as the lasagne did.

She had just set the timer on the small oven when there was a knock at the door, wiping her hand on the apron she went to open it expecting it to be Artie dropping by some more information he said he would locate, or Daniel who he popped over three times so far with a movie.

It was neither.

"Logan? What are you doing here?" standing on her doorstep looking like his puppy had just died was Logan Echolls.

"Veronica, can I come in there is something I need to tell you" he said.

* * *

AN: A cliffie, how did that get there?? when i get enough reviews i'll tell you what it is.

L**oveElle**: I think we are safe from Agent West so far, we will have to wait and see.

**AJzkitten69**: I'm glad you're liking it. I really can't stand Madison so I agree she deserves everything she gets.

**Wanabee**: I can't promise it doesn't, as it does have a fair amount to do with him, all will be revealed in the next few chapters.

**christykg**: Thankyou. I am really glad you liked it, i was beginning to think interest in this story is dropping unfortunately. I look forward to reading your reviews they are always helpful, i love the way you discuss the parts of the chapters. Once again, thanks.

**Sun Goddess 13**: Thankyou, i'm glad i could work that Madison part in. If that issue is resolved then hopefully there might be hope for them yet??

**Spreeaholic1**: Thanks for taking the time to read and review, i appreiciate it.


	8. Missing in Action

_ **Righting the Wrong's**_

**_Disclaimer:_** I own nothing but the flash key this story is saved to. All characters and anything you recognise from the show is owned by Rob Thomas and the networks

**Chapter Eight:** Missing in Action

**Chapter Summary:** Logan breaks some upsetting news to Veronica, Mac and Dick's relationship moves to a new level.

**Pairings: **LoVe eventually. MaDi and others are implied or explored.

**AN: **Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter it really spurred me on. A special shoutout to Wanabee who motivated me into posting this chapter. I'm not too happy with it as it didn't flow like it should.

* * *

_Previously:_

_She had just set the timer on the small oven when there was a knock at the door, wiping her hand on the apron she went to open it expecting it to be Artie dropping by some more information he said he would locate, or Daniel who he popped over three times so far with a movie._

_It was neither._

_"Logan? What are you doing here?" standing on her doorstep looking like his puppy had just died was Logan Echolls._

_"Veronica, can I come in there is something I need to tell you" he said._

_

* * *

_

Why would Logan come here all the way from Neptune to tell her something? Unless "Oh god, is it dad?" realisation dawned on her as she started trying to pull her apron off in preparation to go where ever she needed to.

"No, Veronica your father's fine. Can I come in please?" he asked again. This wasn't the sort of conversation to have in a hallway, in a place he probably wasn't allowed anyway.

"Of course" she moved aside to let him in and closed the door after him.

"I don't want to sound rude Logan, but why are you here looking like your dog died?" the adrenaline she first felt was still surging through her and he was doing nothing to dispel her fears.

He put his hand on her back and moved her gently over to the small sofa. "Let's sit down" he sat down and pulled her down next to him.

"Veronica" he took her hand in his "There's nothing wrong with your dad, he's fine but I do have to tell you something and it's not good"

She waited with baited breath, who was it then Wallace, Mac, Dick? It must be bad if Logan had come out here to tell her something, and why hadn't her dad called or come with him?

"It's Wallace. He's missing. They got word early this morning, apparently a few days ago the small plane that was carrying the volunteers to a remoter camp crashed. They haven't found it yet. It seems that he was on that plane" his voice was full of compassion.

"Oh god" she slumped against the sofa trying to take in what he had just told her.

"I'm here because your dad has gone over there to see what he can find out. He flew out at the same time I did this morning. Seriously though, I didn't realise how terrifying your dad is until he was standing over me at 5.30 this morning in the dark. Lucky you weren't there" he smiled at her in sympathy. He had never been overly close with Wallace but he did respect the guy and knew how much Veronica cared for him.

A few seconds later she was up and digging in the cupboard for her suitcase swatting away the tear that ran down her cheek. By the time Logan had realised what she was doing there was a heap of clothes spilling out.

"What are you doing?" he asked her "you can't leave. That's why your dad sent me here, he told me for us to sit tight until we hear anything definite. I know you want to go and do something, but you need to stay here and do your internship. You can't do anything in Neptune anyway and Wallace would want you here. You know he would" he tried to take the suitcase off her.

"No. I can't be here Logan. I should be there. Dad might need me to do something, I have to help Alicia. She must be distraught." Didn't he know her well enough to know she couldn't sit here waiting?

"Veronica. You can't" he had pulled her close during her ramble and was now holding her tightly.

She let her body go weak, with Logan holding her up. Seizing the opportunity he picked her small body up into his arms and carried her out to the lounge room, sitting down on the sofa with her curled in his lap as she let go of the tears she had been holding in and cried onto his shoulder.

"Shh it's ok" he whispered into her hair. "They will find him"

It had been a huge shock to him to wake up with Keith standing over him earlier that day

_Logan was sleeping peacefully in the dark room when he felt someone shake him. He bolted upright and out of the bed as his subconscious remembered that Dick was spending the night away with his dad._

_"Who are you? What do you want?" he had yelled, searching the dim room with his eyes for any kind of weapon he could use._

_"Logan. Calm down it's me, Keith Mars" Keith said backing away from him_

_"What's wrong? Is it Veronica?" he was fully awake now._

_"No she's fine. Logan I need your help, I'm sorry for scaring you but I was knocking for ages, I gave up and went and got security to let me in. Get dressed we have a bit of a problem and I need you to go to Veronica. I'll explain on the way, grab a few changes of clothes" he instructed before retreating to the other room to let Logan get dressed._

_Logan dressed as quickly as possible and threw the requested articles in the bag,__ he finished zipping it up as went to find__ Keith__ who was__ in the other room waiting for him._

_"Let's go" Logan commanded and they headed for the door._

_Keith's respect for Logan grew in that instant. He had no idea what was being asked of him but the second his daughter's name was mentioned Logan had been willing to do anything. He suddenly realised how deeply Logan loved her._

_He waited until they were in the car heading for the airport before he told Logan the situation, mainly to give himself enough time to compose himself. Wallace was like a son to him and he was devastated that he might be returning with his dead body if he had been on that plane._

_Once they had hit the freeway Keith started to speak._

_"Alicia has just had a call from the American Embassy in Africa. The program that Wallace had left for, I think it's called Invisible Children; its co-ordinators had just contacted them and informed them that a plane carrying the college volunteers has disappeared off the radar. It's presumed to have crashed in really rugged territory. The__y__aren't__ hopeful for any survivors.__" He said in a calm voice. Too calm Logan thought._

_"So just so I'm clear on this. Wallace is missing presumed dead? And you're going over there?" he asked._

_"Yes" Keith confirmed "Alicia needs to stay with Wallace's younger brother so I'm going. I'll have more chance of finding out things or following up any leads if I am over there, which is why I need you to go to Virginia and stay with Veronica. I don't have time to go there myself and I don't __want to call her either, someone__ should be with her when she finds out. It's unlikely she will hear it on the news, you don't often hear about this sort of thing, and you know her__ if I was to call her and tell her now I'll probably run into her in Africa. Alicia and I have discussed it and we want her to stay put until we know more. Please Logan can you do this for me? __For her?"_

_"You already know that answer to that question, that's why I'm here now isn't it?" he commented._

Keith had called ahead so the tickets were already waiting for them when they arrived at the airport. Logan's plane left in an hour and Keith's shortly after that.

Once he had boarded the plane he had spent the entire flight running though things in his head. He knew Veronica would take the news badly. Wallace was her closest friend. She cared for him deeply.

When the plane landed he had went straight to the hire car place and rented a car. He arrived at the FBI headquarters an hour later, and then it had taken him another forty minutes to convince them of the urgency of his visit. Apparently they guarded their interns like they did their secrets.

Finally they had called up to an Agent Artie Smith and he had agreed to take him to Veronica, telling Logan he would give him an hour before checking in.

As the door bell rang Logan realised that it was probably him now, although it didn't seem like an hour since he had arrived.

He moved Veronica off him and got up to answer the door. It was indeed Artie who was standing there, a large manila folder in hand. "Hi Logan, How did she take it?" he looked past Logan to where veronica was still curled up on the sofa.

"Not the best but better than I expected, did you want to come through?" he moved aside to let the older man into the room.

"Veronica, I'm sorry to hear you had some bad news. Just sit tight though, there could be a multitude of reasons why your friend is missing, we all know how backward communication is over there it could be a complete mix up" he tried to comfort her.

"I'm hoping" she spotted the folder in his hand. "Thanks for this; I'll try to get to it later"

"If you don't feel like coming in tomorrow just give Dan a call and he will let me know" he instructed before leaving.

"Thanks Artie, I'll see what happens hopefully I will know something by then" she let him out and closed the door. It all seemed surreal.

* * *

_Earlier that day_

Dick took a deep breath as he rang Mac's doorbell. He had received a call from Logan via satellite phone telling him that Veronica's friend Wallace was missing and he should probably tell Mac.

So here he was standing outside her door waiting for someone to open it so he could deliver bad news. A few moments later Mac's mother greeted him and ushered him inside.

Dick had never done 'meet the parents' overly well and now was not an exception.

"I wandered if Mac, I meant Cindy was home" he asked her mother who introduced herself as Cathy.

"She's not long got home from her job. Would you like to go in?" she asked him walking down a hall. He followed her assuming that was what she wanted until they stopped outside the door at the end of the hall.

"Cindy" she knocked on the door "You have a visitor"

A few seconds later Mac threw open the door and was shocked to see Dick standing in her hallway in the middle of the day.

"Dick?" for a moment she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.

"Hi Mac, how's it hanging" he greeted her cringing inside at the words he had chosen.

"I'll just give you two some space" Cathy excused herself grinning from ear to ear. Her parents had never liked Max or Bronson when she had been dating them, but obviously Dick sized up to whatever strange expectations Cathy had.

After Cathy had left he shut the door and walked up to Mac placing a soft kiss on her lips. "Hey you" he greeted her a second time.

"Hey" she replied. "I wasn't expecting to see you in the daylight" she joked at him.

"I know but I had a call from Logan, he was on a plane to Virginia to see Veronica. He's going there to tell her that Wally is missing" he told her as gently as he could. He had always called Wallace Wally much to Wallace's dislike.

"Are you sure?" she asked him. Hopefully there had been some mistake.

"Yup, Ronnie's dad went to Africa this morning to try and find him and made Logan go and see her at the FBI to tell her" he sat on the edge of the bed as she processed the information.

Wallace was missing? That was a shock. Mac and Wallace were good friends but definitely not as close as Wallace and Veronica were. Just when things had really started to work out for her Dick tells her this. As she sat there on the bed leaning against Dick she let her mind wander back over the events of the previous week.

_Last Tuesday had been massive for her; she had visited Kane software and spoken to Jake Kane personally. He had assured her that although he had suspected she had a hand in Veronica's adventure he was offering her the internship based on her computer skills which he had called amazing._

_He had also emphasised he was not doing it to 'buy' silence as he figured she was a smart girl and would know to keep her mouth shut anyway._

_After her trip there she had gone to Max's place, guilt weighing heavily on her. Max was a great guy and they connected on so many more levels than she ever had done with Bronson. __The attraction was definitely there and she realised that maybe that's what the relationship had been based on._

_Bronson had been her rebound guy so to speak, the first one to come along after Cassidy and assure there was nothing wrong with her. That had fizzled out though when she realised that was the only benefit of the relationship._

_She had effectively dumped him for Max, and now she was dumping Max for Dick? She decided she definitely did have a screw loose somewhere. On the drive over to Max's new apartment which was opposite Hearst she had made the decision that even though she was finishing things with Max she wouldn't rush into things with Dick, after all their current relationship met no normal standards what so ever._

_Convincing herself that she was breaking up with Max in order for her to grow and discover her inner self she felt much better about it. He hadn't even known about Cassidy and spending time with Dick was unearthing all those feelings she had cleverly buried and never dealt with._

_Yes, it was definitely time for her to move on and be true to herself._

_Max had taken the news pretty badly, offering to stop his business and return to school if that's what she needed, but it wasn't, so she told him that it was her then kicked herself for the using the oldest break up line ever. She wasn't lying though it really was her – and maybe Dick._

_Dick had stayed true to his word and come earlier that night arriving at eleven instead of the usual one or so. This time he had brought a blanket and once they reached the beach they had settled down on it, him sitting behind with Mac settled between his legs leaning back on him._

_That had sat there for hours, just enjoying the quiet. Dick had obviously sensed that he shouldn't push her as he didn't ask her about Max once. As they had stood up to leave she told him about the break up with Max. It was one of the first genuine smiles she had seen from him in a long time._

_Wednesday had seen her first day at Kane software, it was exciting and scary at the same time. Although Mac knew her skills were fairly good she had always secretly worried about how she would measure up to real techs in the workforce. She needn't have worried; by the end of her first day she had made a few friends and was flying through the smaller problems her supervisor had given her to test her skills._

_She had surprised Dick that night; taking a chance that he would be home she had packed a small picnic basket and shown up at his suite around eight. After she had made some small talk with Logan who was looking a little worse for wear – unshaven and __mopey__, Dick had accompanied her to the roof where they had eaten dinner together._

_The conversation had turned to Cassidy and Mac had asked Dick if he thought she was too weird wanting them to have their first semi like date at the place where the boy they both loved died._

_He told her he didn't as this new beginning was only due to a sad ending. He also surprised her by saying that it was the main reason he stayed with Logan because he felt closer to him here._

_It was then that Dick had leaned over and kissed her ever so softly on the lips. "Here's to new beginnings" he had said kissing her again. _

_Later that night she had wondered if they were truly sick in the head, beginning something new at such a morbid place, then resigned herself to the fact that Dick was right, people only viewed it as they wanted to so why shouldn't they include it as a peaceful place for both of them if that's what it took to heal a little._

_By the time Friday had come around they had settled into a peaceful routine. During the day Mac would work at Kane Software and Dick would surf or hang with Logan. At night they would meet up at her window. From there they would head for the beach again, spending the hours with Mac sitting between his legs and Dick cuddling her, or lying together on the beach talking about anything and everything, occasionally kissing._

She leant over and kissed him on the cheek, "Thankyou" she hugged him "for being you".

"Is there something we can do to help?" she asked him. "I feel really bad for Veronica. I hope they find him Dick. He was Veronica's first real friend after everything and he's my second best friend after her."

Mac had never been good at showing emotion and the only sign that it was truly upsetting her was the fact her hand was grasping Dick's so tightly that it was fast losing feeling.

"Do you want me to fly us there?" he suggested untangling her hand and shifting back on the bed so he could lean against the wall, pulling her against him in the familiar position.

"To Africa?" she clarified "That's sweet but I wouldn't know where to start looking"

"No" he grinned "To Veronica. If you really need to be with her I can borrow the company jet and they can fly us there"

Dick's dad had somehow managed to get the other shelf company's he had tied in to Casablancas Investments up and running while in hiding so Dick Jnr and Snr were still as rich as ever, it still amazed her how the rich got away with everything.

"Thank you" she turned to place a small kiss on his lips "but I think we should stay here for the time being besides you know Veronica she's probably left for Africa to go and find him herself"

* * *

"Are you sure I can't get anything else for you?" Logan asked Veronica drying the last dish and putting it back in the cupboard. After Artie had left she had gone from shocked to her usual response to a situation – steely resolve.

She had instructed Logan to serve dinner while she had engrossed herself in her laptop searching for everything she knew on the Invisible Children's program including their many locations, schedules etc.

He had served their dinner and they had sat side by side at the small table eating lasagne and sharing the bottle of wine she had brought earlier. Veronica didn't stop searching the internet the entire time.

"I don't think he was on that plane Logan" she stated sometime later

"Why have you found something?" he asked coming over.

"no, but Wallace told me before he left that once he arrived in Cape Town he was taking an eight hour bus trip to the first remote village he was scheduled to go to. He was supposed to spend the first three weeks there." She explained.

"So if he is supposed to be in some village somewhere then he shouldn't be on a plane to begin with. Do you think they got it wrong?" he caught on.

"I hope so" she went back to typing on her keyboard. "I sent dad an email; hopefully he can find some way to check it. Tomorrow I'll ask Artie to see if he can talk to someone over there. It's worth a shot"

Logan didn't want go get her hopes up. The embassy must have had a pretty good reason to believe Wallace had been on that plane in order to call his next of kin. Keith should be landing in a few hours, hopefully it won't take too long to get some more information but for now all they could do was sit tight.

It had been a pretty long day for both of them by the time Logan had finished in the shower. He had tried to leave and get a room at the hotel down the street but she had insisted that he stay. He had been hesitant at first, the couch was only small, but Keith had specifically asked him to stay with her so stay he would.

Emerging from the bathroom he saw veronica was already in her pyjamas and settled on the sofa having stolen one of the blankets off the bed.

"I can't expect you to sleep on something so short, no arguments Logan" she cut him off before he had a chance to object.

He was exhausted and didn't have the energy to argue with her so rather than get into a fight he bid her good night and went into the bedroom.

Settling himself into bed he fell asleep easily.

* * *

**LoVefan4ever: **You were right he did have something else to tell her.

**AJskitten69: **Glad i made you laugh :)

**Beccakell13: **Glad you like it thanks for the review.

**Spreeaholic1: **Thankyou for revieing i'm glad u loved it.

**MarsLoVer4ever: **Glad you're enjoying it thanks.

**Samantha: **Evil arn't i? there is a few more cliffies to come yet.

**Wanabee: **Don't worry about Daniel too much he's more a filler character. The paternity issue is coming possibly in about three chapters from now.

**Adja: **There you go Max is gone :)

**Sarah: **Thankyou for your review i'm trying to make this as realistic as possible and i'm trying to update every few days.

**Chrustykg: **Once again thankyou, i love these reviews you leave. Unfortunately Logan dind't even address the Madison stuff this chapter but it will be addressed soon and not necessarily by him wink wink I'll see if Dick can make Mac surf just for you.

**Sun Goddess 13: **Dont worry about the lengths of your reviews i appreciate you taking the time to leave something there at all.

**Jennifer: **I plan for the Mannings to get their dues very soon.

**Motylik: **Glad you like it, i'm hoping to keep it close to the show as possible.

**Vmfan387: **Here's another chapter i hope you like it

**bitterbl00d666: **Glad you like the story, more plot lines will be revealed next chapter.

**Once again thankyou to everyone who reviews, i love reading all of them. I will try and work your suggestions in as i go along as long as they will fit in with the general plot. And seeing as you are all LoVe fans i will throw out a line from the next chapter.**

_"Logan woke to find Veronica snuggled against his chest, he let out a slow breath as the events of last night rushed back to him"_

**Wonder how she ended up there? **


	9. Things that go bump in the night

_**Righting the Wrong'**__**s**_

_**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing from the wonderful world of Veronica Mars. All ownership and credit of the characters goes to Rob Thomas and the networks. I just like to play with the characters, hopefully when I finish they will be less damaged than when I started.

_**Chapter Nine: Things that go bump in the night.**_

**_Chapter Summary: _**Mac spends her first night at Dick's. Keith arrives in Africa and Veronica finds her way into Logan's bed.

_**Pairings: **_LoVe eventually. MaDi and others are implied or explored.

**An: **So here it is that LoVe interaction that has been promised for a long time. I'm hoping that it doesn't let the LoVe shippers down as it took a fair bit to write it without either going over the top or just completely letting it down altogether. Please tell me what you think. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, if you want more then you must review ;)

Sun Goddess 13 - thank you for pointing that out, I will definitely fix it. I don't have a beta so even though I constantly reread and edit some things just slip by.

* * *

_Previously:_

"It's Wallace. He's missing. They got word early this morning, apparently a few days ago the small plane that was carrying the volunteers to a remoter camp crashed. They haven't found it yet. It seems that he was on that plane" his voice was full of compassion.

"Oh god" she slumped against the sofa trying to take in what he had just told her.

_

* * *

_

Veronica was having trouble sleeping. More than once she had gotten up and walked to the bedroom door listening to see if Logan was tossing and turning as much as she was. The only sounds she had heard though were the occasional soft mumbles from Logan talking in his sleep.

It was harder than she had ever imagined it would be, having Logan sleep so close to her but yet still so far away.

Finally after another hour of the same she had given up on the idea of sleep altogether. She opened her laptop and flicked through a few different search engines going over the stuff she had previously found but nothing new jumped out at her.

She briefly considered calling Mac but dismissed the idea realising that calling your friend at one am wasn't the best idea when you didn't feel like talking to anyone anyway.

Closing her laptop she wandered around the small room tidying up the bits and pieces that she had left lying around over the past day or so. She spotted Logan's bag in the corner and before she knew it she had pulled out one of his shirts and was holding it close breathing in his scent, a mix of CK's One and something else that she could never quite pick.

It was comforting, but at the same time lacked so much when the object of her thoughts was sleeping in her bed in the next room.

Logan was a heavy sleeper if she was sneaky enough she could probably climb right into bed with him and be out again for her early morning jog without him even waking up, but was it fair to him?

It may not have been the fairest thing seeing as she wasn't quite sure where she stood with him anymore, but it definitely wasn't the most unfair thing, he had been with her in traumatic situations before and let her sleep next to him cuddling her close and comforting her without any expectations tied in so why not now?

In her overly tired state the need for emotional comfort won out over the logical side of her brain and she crept quietly into his room slipping into bed next to him. Her heart jumped with subdued joy when his sleeping form instinctively reached out and pulled her close, his subconscious sensing her need for him.

She held her breath for a few moments wondering if he had woken up but his breathing remained slow and steady as he slept on. Filled with relief at not having to explain herself Veronica relaxed into his arms and drifted off as contentedly as possible considering the circumstances.

* * *

Keith was tired. Frustrated as hell and tired. Since his plane had landed he had hit more dead ends than he thought existed. Customs at the airport had interrogated him about his lack of luggage and intentions in their country; they were also suspicious of his lack of accommodation and travel plans, after a thorough search of the small amount of belongings that he had brought along and a rather uncomfortable frisk down by a huge African soldier they had finally called back to the states and realised that he wasn't trafficking drugs into or out of the troubled country, he was just there to find his son.

Technically Wallace wasn't his son but he was fast beginning to think of him as such, and he was just as devastated as Alicia at the news that he had gone missing.

After losing Wallace for the few moths last year when he had run away to Chicago she was even more sensitive, so Keith had told her to stay put and take care of herself and Darrel while he flew to Africa to see what he could find out.

Once the idiots at the airport had finished with him he had caught a taxi to the embassy. There he had been informed that the American Tourist Liaison Officer was currently away from the office and his secretary did not know when he was due back.

So he had been forced to wait on the cold plastic chairs, tired, hungry and becoming more exhausted by the minute.

* * *

It was late evening when Mac finished showering. Dick had left an hour ago after making her promise that she would come and stay with him at the suite. She was beyond nervous; somehow meeting at the beach or on the roof top was comforting. In a public place there were never any real intimate interactions, kissing and cuddling was one thing, but being alone with Dick in his suite was another.

What would he expect? Mac wasn't stupid she knew his reputation; he was a party loving sex freak, Sex god actually if the stories were true, but then again all the stories she had heard, and her previous opinion of Dick never alluded to the fact that he had a sensitive side, a sweet loving side.

Still she was nervous; sure she had sex with Max, and was downright ashamed to admit she had often pretended he was Cassidy. At the time she had thought it was some sort of connection but now she realised it wasn't. It was more primal attraction than understanding on any level.

Bronson had never pushed her, sensing something traumatic under the bubbly exterior, and therefore their relationship had never progressed beyond the kissing/fondling phase.

She selected every part of her outfit carefully, right down to the matching bra and panties. If something happened, then at least she wouldn't be embarrassed about her underwear, but she had no intention of going there expecting it, that's for sure.

Informing her mother that she was staying at a friend's house she drove the short distance to the Neptune Grande and headed up to Dick's suite.

"Hi Babe" Dick greeted her cheerfully when he opened the door.

"Sorry I'm late" she apologised "It took me longer to shower and get out of the house than I thought"

"S'all good" he told her pulling her in for a passionate kiss.

"I've ordered some room service" he let go of her lips but still had her hand in his. "Veggie lasagne, I hope that suits?"

"It's great, thank you" she put her bag down on the floor.

"This is weird" Dick stated "I feel nervous and stupid and I honestly don't know what I should be doing" he blushed slightly at admitting this sensitive information.

"Good" she smiled at him "Well not good, but I feel the same and hence don't feel so stupid anymore"

"Hey you set up the games" she had just noticed he had every current gaming console spread out on the coffee table.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure what you wanted to do" he admitted. "I figured that seeing as you love computers then you must like games"

"So Halo or Battlefield 2?" she held up the two games.

"Do you even have to ask?" he grabbed the other controller and flopped on the couch next to where Mac had sat.

It wasn't long before they managed to slip back into the comfortable banter that usually saw them through the long nights on the beach. Once Mac realised that Dick really didn't expect anything from her it was a lot easier. Dinner had arrived and they had chatted about the events of their day before learning of Wallace's disappearance, which also made Mac feel slightly guilty to be having such a good time when one of her friends was missing and the other was most likely distraught at the fact that said friend was missing.

Finally when she couldn't put it off any longer she turned to Dick. "We really need to get some sleep, I have to be at work at seven tomorrow, earlier than usual because of some important meeting"

"Well, then we should head for bed" Dick said. He had been skirting around the issue himself all night. He was developing feelings for the girl sitting next to him; it wasn't lust or an urge to get laid like usual. There was a deeper connection and although he would love nothing more than to have her completely, he sensed her nervousness.

"Logan is obviously not here, I had the maid change his sheets if you want to sleep in his bed" pointing through Logan's open door to the freshly made bed. "Oryoucansleepwithme" he shot out not looking at her so she wouldn't see disappointment in his expression when she said no.

Mac took a deep breath, this here was the moment she had been trying to avoid, mixed emotions kept fighting for dominance, the first one, desire was screaming at her to just go with him to his bed and let whatever was destined to happen, happen. But the bigger part of her was terrified at the idea of sleeping with him. Sex wouldn't be just sex with the feelings she had for him involved.

It was no secret that Dick had been with a lot of girls and Mac was worried that she wouldn't compare. She wasn't as thin as most of the girls her age and she had never thought a lot of her figure.

"I didn't mean sex Mac" she looked up to see him studying her, obviously he had figured out what was happening inside her head.

"This thing we have here?" he placed both of his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes "I don't know what it is, but something inside of me says its special, I haven't felt this way before and I don't want to screw it up. I won't lie to you I'm a hot blooded male and I'd love nothing more than to make you scream my name over and over"

He smiled as Mac blushed a deep shade of red at his suggestion "but I realise that this isn't the time for that for either of us, so when I say sleep with me, I mean just that, let me hold you in my arms all night" he finished his voice full of sincerity.

"Ok" Mac decided that she wanted this also "But I can't promise I won't kiss you though" she grinned feeling all the nervousness and tension ebb away.

* * *

Logan woke to find Veronica snuggled against his chest; he let out a slow breath as the events of last night rushed back to him.

_Although he had been a sleep for awhile Logan was jostled out of his dreamlike state by the movement of someone getting into bed with him. His instincts told him it was Veronica, not only by the smell of her perfume but also by the soft hair that brushed against his chest as she snuggled into him trying to get comfortable. He was careful to keep his breathing soft and shallow so as not to let her now he was in fact awake._

_She had waited a while to come in, obviously waiting for him to be deep asleep before seeking comfort from him._

_His slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, sighing in his 'sleep'. He waited for a few moments to see whether he had been caught out in his act of faking being asleep, but she didn't move and he sensed her relax next __to him, thanking whatever gods had sent her in here he allowed himself to doze off again, content enough that she was here. _

_When Logan __woke__ next it was still dark, it took a few seconds for him to understand what it was that had roused him from his slumber this time, as he became more alert he realised exactly what it was._

_Sometime in the last few minutes Veronica had shifted from the spoon position with her back to him and she was now facing him, wedged up as tight against his body as she could get._

_His primal instincts had reacted to this new event and his member had become significantly hard. It didn't help matters that Veronica was running her hand up and down the inside of his thigh._

_He held off letting her know that he was awake for a few moments, not wanting to make a fool out of himself, __in case__ she was still deeply sleeping and it was just a dreamlike reaction._

_When her mouth moved to place soft kisses along his chest and her tongue flicked over his nipple he knew she wasn't sleeping._

_"Veronica?" he questioned her huskily, not moving from his current position._

_Her kisses moved from his chest to up the side of his neck, her hot breath radiating against his skin as she answered him "__H__mmm?"_

_"We shouldn't do this, there's too much we need to talk about first" he told her gently._

_She wasn't deterred, although her mouth kept assaulting his neck her hand had moved from his thigh to his cock, stroking softly from the tip to the base._

_"Shh Logan" she __quieted__ him "__P__lease, just make me forget"__ her tone was begging, and needy._

_The rational part of his brain screamed that doing this would be wrong, but the lust in him was taking __it __over__ it had been a long time since she had been in his arms and self control had never been a strong point of his._

_Thinking that he would most likely regret this in the near future he gave in to lust, his strong arms reaching out to flip her ov__er and onto her back. One quick__ movement later and the satin negligee she wore__ had been removed and tossed off__ the bed somewhere._

_She watched Logan look up at her, his brown eyes darkening with desire._

_He cupped her breast gently in his hand; his mouth paused above her nipple._

_"Are you sure?" he whispered, giving her a last chance to back out._

_She nodded, giving him all the reassurance that he needed._

_His mouth descended upon her peaked nipple, his tongue swirling and sucking making her moan softly. She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled his mouth up to meet hers. He kissed her hungrily, dominating her mouth as his other hand slipped between her legs, his eyes widened __at the sudden__ realisation that she hadn't been wearing panties._

_Dipping his finger into her soft folds he stroked gently__ coaxing __her__ moisture to flow. She had moved her hands from his hair to his back, running her fingers up and down in__ the way she knew drove him mad_

_She slipped her hand back down to grasp his cock again, marvelling at his length. She circled her thumb around its head, using the precum that was starting t__o drip from the top__ to lubricate his__ shaft._

_Logan could hear her breathing becoming faster as he slipped a second finger into her using his thumb to rub circles around her clit, __he knew she was close. His moved his mouth over to 'that' spot on her neck and alternated between kissing__ sucking and blowing on it gently. His ministrations were rewarded as moments later he felt her tighten around his fingers._

_"Oh god Logan" she almost screamed as she felt herself climax, she had forgotten how magic his fingers were. "Please, please Logan, I need you" she begged at him riding the waves as they washed over her. She needed to feel him inside her, releasing her in a way only he could._

_He was close to the edge himself as he withdrew his fingers and shifted positions so he was sitting with his back propped against the wall at the head __of the bed. He pulled her over onto him so __her legs straddled either side o__f his waist and with one fluid motion__ he__ had driven in to her._

_She gasped and f__or a moment he had been afraid he had hurt her and willed himself to stay still allowing her to adjust. "Oh Logan" she sighed moving against him._

_She was so wet and tight that Logan could__n't__ help himself and began muttering into her ear in between kissing her neck "oh god baby, so hot, so tight" he continued driving up and down coming closer to his release._

_Veronica felt the familiar tension building again as Logan continually moved in and out of her__ forcefully, but not enough to hurt her__, he was giving her the release she had asked for. His hands were playing with her breasts as his mouth continually kissed her neck. She was coming closer to her peak, but needed to see him reach his also._

_"Please come for me Logan" she whispered to him, looking in him deep in the eyes. His expression and guttural moans as he came were enough to push her over the edge again, and she let herself go enjoying the feeling of his cock pulsating inside her as the w__aves from her own orgasm hit__ her._

_Logan kissed her softly on the lips before pulling her back down next to him in the spoon position, his arm wrapped around her waist and his leg thrown over the top of hers. Holding her possessively they both drifted off to sleep contentedly._

Smiling at the memory he pulled Veronica closer to him once again and drifted back off to sleep, it was just before morning and they still had a an hour yet before they had to get up.

The next time he woke it was daylight outside and he was alone in the bed. Panicking that she had run again Logan quickly pulled on his boxers from where they were discarded on the floor and hurried out into the living area.

Relief flooded through him as he saw her laptop and camera on the table, she wouldn't go anywhere without those, looking closer he saw a note propped against them.

_Logan,_

_Sorry I had to run to work, I'm trusting that you can entertain yourself until around five. Here is the room key, please let me know if you hear anything. I'm going to talk to anyone that might be of help._

_V._

His instincts told him to go and check she was actually there and not on a plane, but the little voice in his head told him not to, if anything was going to be rebuilt from the ashes then he needed to trust her and checking up on her at work was exactly the opposite.

* * *

**Wanabee : **Here's the much requested LoVe action you have been waiting for

**Samantha: **A bit more MaDi. I hope Logan finds a way to tell her also, but i have this feeling something bad might happen before he does.

**AJskitten: **Here you go hope your nails arn't too short.

**Adja: **They often screw it up, do you need help with the head bashing? lol.

**christykg: **here's a bit of loving LoVe, well sort of. I'm working on the surfing thing, you will see it at some point i'm sure.

**bitterbl00d666: **I also have a sense that by the end of this story there will be some very frim friendships, thanks again for the review.

**Sun Goddess 13: **Thanks for the tip, glad you liked the flashbacks, i find they help a bit when your stuck progressing.

**Vmfan387: **Thankyou for the review, i'm sorry i can't give you a hint for the next chapter i only have a rough idea of it at this stage, but i'm sure there will be a lot more LoVe.

**Beccakell13: **More LoVE soon, i'm hoping he will tell her, i wonder why he hasn't

**loVefan4ever: **Thankyou for the review, i'm glad you discuss some plot points, i really value your opinion on how it's going. Oh and i have to say i'm a big fan of your fic Realisation Of a Lifetime. It's a must read.

AN: again thanks to all, now that this chapter has spat out the point needed to more on we can move ahead, unfortunately it's not all sunshine and daisies though.


	10. Dinner a the Sinclair's

**_Righting the Wrong's_**

**Disclaimer**: I own none of it all of the characters and ideas from the show belong to Rob Thomas and the various networks.

**Chapter Ten**: Dinner at the Sinclair's

**Chapter Summary**: Mac has dinner at the Sinclairs, Logan meets Agent Dan West and Veronica asks Artie for help in finding Wallace.

**Pairings**: LoVe eventually. MaDi and other pairings re implied or explored.

**An**: It was pointed out in the reviews that apparently there are some things terribly wrong with this story, so for my peace of mind and in case others are confused by a few things I thought I should answer them before we proceed.

Apparently you can't get a flight from LA to Cape Town directly, so I re-checked into this and found that there are a few carriers that fly there with one or two stops, like I had originally discovered, I didn't go through these in the story as Wallace's stop over's are not part of it and the main thing is he got to where he needed to be. Also the thing Wallace is doing is not in South Africa, I obviously didn't research into this enough, and I'm horrified to realise I got it so wrong, so in this chapter Keith will discover that Wallace took a small connecting flight to Uganda. I would like to say though that since I've watched blood diamond and another documentary that was made on Sierra Leone and Uganda and the LRA/RUF I have vowed never to wear another diamond other than the two I own now as they have sentimental value, I have also sponsored a little girl in Senegal for almost two years now. I AM REALLY SORRY FOR NOT DOING JUSTICE TO INVISIBLE CHIDLREN AND NO OFFENSE WAS MEANT BY THIS.

Cassidy raping her is known by only a couple of people, for this story though I assume that Veronica has told Mac at some point, if only to help her understand a little more. As for Dick just letting Mac's comment go without questioning it, I also assumed or implied that maybe Logan had told Dick during one of Dick's breakdown in order to help him understand a little why Logan and Veronica felt the way they did towards him.

Mrs Sinclair's outburst was written in the way that she had been feeling some resentment towards Madison for some time, as shown in the few episodes in S1 where Madison had ordered her mother around and spoke down to her. This was in the rough plan to discuss further down the line but I wanted to clear it up. Also haven't we all had some point in our lives where we have made our mother's so mad they either have slapped us or were going to?? I know I did.

The drinking age of 21, I thought that by reading it, it was assumed Veronica used a fake i.d well all know that she has an arsenal of them, perhaps I should have added the fact though.

La – dc a 7 hr plane trip, hmm she flew to Virginia, that's what I took form the show so looking up a flight online from LA to Virginia gave me various times between 6-8hrs. I may have made a mistake in just typing flights from LA to Virgina instead of correct destinations, I didn't think it mattered that much at the time as long as she got there. And on that note, thank you for the reviews and I hope my errors? Didn't offend anyone too much. Also if anyone that resides in the USA would like to volunteer to check the facts pertaining to their wonderful country before I post updates I would be grateful, being Aussie I am relying mostly on internet and my obviously poor research skills.

* * *

Three hours had passed for Keith when the delegated American Tourist Liaison Officer arrived back in his office.

"Mr Mars?" the secretary addressed him. "You can go in now" she motioned towards the office

"Thank you" Keith rose from the chair, picked up his small travel bag and headed into the room which she had pointed to.

"Mr Collins, Thank you for taking time to see me" Keith greeted the man, before sitting down in the chair in front of the other man's desk.

"Not meaning to sound rude Mr Mars, but I am a very busy man and usually I do not see people without appointments" he said pointedly, obviously annoyed at having to take time out of whatever he had planned to see Keith.

"I won't keep you" Keith replied "I'm just here searching for this boy." He handed him across a photograph of Wallace "He was coming across for the Invisible Children's Program, my girlfriend received a call from the embassy here stating that the small plane he was on crashed on route to Uganda, I'm just trying to find out the details, and see if there could possibly have been a mistake"

"Are you suggesting our systems are incompetent" he asked Keith defensively

"Not at all Mr Collin's, it's just been a long day and I'm not as polite as usual. Are there any details you could help me with? Do you have flight lists or passport check points? Anything that would tell us for certain that Wallace Fennel got on that plane and is not off in a community somewhere?" he asked.

The taller man leaned back in his leather chair and appeared to think for a moment studying Keith closely. "I will look into this situation and see what I can find" he finally said. "In the meantime Mr Mars I should suggest that you find somewhere to rest, it will take me a few hours to find the required information. I'll have my secretary contact you when I find something, just leave your details with her on the way out" he rose from his chair to escort Keith out, signalling that for now at least the meeting was over.

* * *

Now that Veronica had been there for over a week and had a general idea of what sections did what, Artie had entered her into a more specialised internship with the Law Enforcement Communications Unit. A lot of it had to do with general clerical duties such as organising information collected, but towards the end Veronica would get to participate in some student practical exercises and role plays along with the new recruits. That was what she was really looking forward to.

It was nearing one pm by the time Artie had arrived back from his briefing his team on their latest assignment and Veronica was impatient to get him alone so she could ask him about possible FBI contacts over in Africa that may be able to help with locating Wallace. For the minute she chose to think of him as missing, although Logan had told her the plane was suspected to have crashed and the passengers presumed dead she didn't want to entertain that possibility and so in her mind he was missing.

Seeing Artie go into his office alone she made sure she wasn't being too obvious to the other staff and followed him in closing the door.

"Veronica, how are you holding up?" he asked her kindly out of ear shot.

"I've been better, there has to be someone over there that can help in some way, isn't there?" she asked him her voice filled with desperation.

"We don't have any agents there on assignment at the present, and unfortunately one missing boy is sadly out of our jurisdiction. It's just not our concern" he told her watching her face fall.

"Are you asking me as an FBI agent to assist you?" he asked staring pointedly at her.

The meaning of his words dawned on her "No. No I'm not" she shook her head. "Artie I'm asking for your assistance as an Associate" she rephrased.

"In that case I'll see what we can do, I'm not quite certain but I think we have one or two members living abroad on the African continent at the moment and I presume they have contacts." He smiled at her. "I'll see what I can find out; I just need a few details"

Veronica wrote as many of Wallace's details down as she could remember before giving them to Artie "I originally thought that this program was in South Africa but when I researched it more the other night I found out that he was flying to Cape Town where they were meeting as a central group. From there they were given their assignments and then continued on to different villages in Uganda. There were another one to two flights to get there and a few bus trips from what I can gather"

"Well it's a start, try not to worry too much, hopefully it's just a bureaucratic mix up" he put a comforting hand on her shoulder and led her to the door.

She returned back to her desk and the pile of papers waiting to be sorted. Flipping out her phone she sent Logan a quick text message to tell him she would pick up dinner and to reassure him she was where she said she would be.

* * *

Logan had spent the day watching a few dvd's he had found lying around in the small apartment. He had at one point considered going for a drive but had wanted to be here in case Veronica returned early. He was clearing the last of the soda cans off the table that he had left there earlier; he wanted the place to be tidy when she returned. They needed to talk, especially after last night and he didn't want her to have any reason to dodge the conversation.

As he picked up the last can his arm brushed the manila folder and sent it flying to the floor, its papers falling out. He threw the cans in the trash and returned to the paperwork. Getting down on his hands and knees he retrieved most of them, putting them in the folder. As he picked up the last piece which was under the table, a name on the document caught his eye. Logan took a closer look.

The file was on Duncan. Case notes relating to the 'kidnapping' of Lilly and Duncan fleeing the country. Why did Veronica have these files? He remembered the older agent dropping them off last night. Obviously she was looking into the case again, but why? Why risk having Duncan get caught now after all this time. Was she still in love with him and wanted him back?

Logan's thoughts were interrupted when someone started knocking on the door, he checked his watch, and it read just after five. Opening the door he expected to see Veronica there having left her key for him. It wasn't Veronica, but a guy who Logan thought looked to be at least twenty five or so.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Hi, I'm Dan" he held out his hand for Logan to shake but Logan ignored the gesture "Is Veronica here?" he tried to see past Logan into the room.

"No, she's not" he was blunt, not wanting to give Dan the impression that he was welcome.

"Oh, because she and I usually watch movies a few times a week. Tonight is movie night" he held up a bog of popcorn and a dvd Logan hadn't noticed he had.

Logan felt the familiar signs of jealousy rearing up "Not anymore you don't" he said shutting the door in Dan's face hoping he would get the message. He didn't. Dan knocked again more forcefully until Logan flung the door back open

"I thought you FBI agents were smart, can't you tell when you're not wanted?" he drawled at him

"Why not let Veronica decide that" Dan shot back cockily "and anyway aren't there rules about interns having guests in their rooms" he pointed out

"Perhaps" Logan smirked at him "But I'm pretty sure then that there would also be rules about FBI agents trying to seduce interns. Hey maybe I should just check, I met a wonderful man yesterday. Agent Artie Smith, maybe you know him? He seems rather protective towards Veronica in a fatherly way" Logan pulled out his phone "Perhaps I should just ask him, he'd know" he started to press a few digits pretending to dial Artie's number "Just evaporate or something" he said, this time slamming the door. The telltale sign of hearing footsteps retreating down the hallway confirmed that Logan had finally gotten the message through.

He'd probably be given hell from Veronica later when she found out, but it had felt good taking his frustrations out on the cocky guy, and he was damned if he was going to let him try and move in on Veronica before she and Logan sorted things through.

* * *

Mac stood outside the door to the Sinclair residence and took yet another deep breath, willing herself just to press the door bell and get it over with. Emily Sinclair had invited her to dinner twice and each time she found an excuse to put it off, but when she had rang again last night Mac had picked up on the longing in her voice and had given in.

She had no idea what to expect and hoped that Madison wouldn't be there, but luck wasn't on her side as the person who opened the door once she had finally rung the bell was the only person who she was really dreading seeing.

"Oh hey sis" Madison greeted, her voice full of venom, distaste clearly written on her face.

"I'm not your sister Madison" Mac shot back at her

"Oh I know, but I was raised with your family and you with mine, and now that you have discovered that, you just can't wait to try and move in on it can you? Shouldn't they have some sort of endearment for that?" she made no move to let Mac past, instead she tried to make her feel as unwelcome as possible.

"Endearment, Wow that's a big word, I didn't think they taught such things at fashion school" she was fast regretting coming at all.

"Despite what you think I'm not dumb" she retorted.

"Madison, is that someone at the door?" Emily's voice was heard from within the house.

"Well you sure fooled me" Mac stated pushing past her and into the house, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

Emily and David were waiting for her in the sitting room, upon seeing her enter Emily got up to greet her and introduce formally to her husband.

"David, this is Cindy although she prefers Mac" she turned to Mac "Mac this is David"

"It's nice to meet you" Mac told him blushing slightly under his intense gaze.

"You too" he gestured for Madison to come over "I guess you know Madison already from school"

"We've met a few times" Mac said becoming more uncomfortable by the second. If there was a perfect time for the ground to open up and swallow her now would be it.

"It's nice to see you again" Madison said sweetly, David's face lit up at his daughter being so gracious to Mac.

"And you too Madison" Mac returned the smile, two could play at this game.

"Well why don't we eat?" Emily suggested taking Mac's hand and leading her to the dining room where Lauren was already seated at the table reading a book.

"Mac" she said excitedly, remembering Mac's name from Madison's party and when she had returned to get her purse. Emily and David hadn't filled the younger girl in on the events as of yet so as far as Lauren knew she was just visiting as a friend of Madison's.

"Lauren, I see you're reading again. Is it a good book?" she liked Lauren the two times she had seen her previously and was exactly what Mac imagined her sibling should be like.

The four adults took their seats around the table and David signalled for the maid to start serving dinner. Mac secretly looked at her watch deciding how long she had to stay before she could leave without seeming to rude.

* * *

Three hours later and Mac was driving back towards her 'parents' house. Dinner after being somewhat uncomfortable at first had turned out surprisingly well, especially once Madison had excused herself when her phone rang and hadn't bothered to return.

Thankfully Emily had sensed some tension between the two girls and hadn't bothered to go and find Madison. After the initial questions of 'how was school' 'what are you majoring in' etc, the conversation had turned to computers and Mac's internship at Kane Software. Being in her element she had opened up and was surprised to find out how much she had in common with her biological parents. She had even agreed to come back again at a later date.

* * *

Sorry for the huge An at the start but I felt I needed to explain. I intend to rewrite this once it is finished and correct it properly.

Reference's for the FBI internship was from **www.fbi.gov**

Invisible Children is from ** to everyone who reviewed, I look forward to reading more. I promise the next chapter will be longer and include some more LoVe, MaDi and Wallace.**

**Thanks to everyone who takes the time to review.**


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